Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem
by Tortured Artist
Summary: Twilight discovered a demonic artifact within a secret room in her library. This artifact drew the attention of ancient beings that would destroy all life if they found it. To stop this new threat, Twilight and her friends must survive the walking dead and horrific hallucinations. Can the magic of friendship save Equestria from the Eternal Darkness?
1. The Discovery

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 1: The Discovery

_Author's Note: Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is owned by Nintendo and developed by Silicon Knights. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is produced by Hasbro Studios and DHX Media Vancouver (formally known as Studio B Productions) and is based on the My Little Pony toy line by Hasbro. _

In the dim candlelight, the darkness seemed to smother Twilight as if there was no reality beyond Twilight's writing desk. Ignoring the sudden sounds of the creaking library, Twilight wrote down her latest report to Princess Celestia, her quill writing feverishly along the paper.

She jumped in surprise as she heard a loud thud. At first, Twilight dismissed it, but then the noise occurred again, louder and closer this time.

"Is that you, Owlowiscious?" cried out Twilight. Knowing that owls normally do not make noise, Twilight decided to investigate for intruders. Holding the candle aloft with telekinesis, she traipsed along into the main library, her eyes darting back and forth with freight.

As she entered the room, she spotted Spike in the shadows, his back toward her as he stared out the black window.

"Oh Spike, it's just you," said Twilight with a nervous chuckle. "What are you doing out of bed this late at night?" She approached Spike, but the little dragon did not respond, continuing his vigil of the night outside. She put a hoof to his shoulder, and as she turned him around, she screamed at the sight of Spike's face, mangled and rotted.

Spike stared at Twilight with white orbs for eyes. He let out a soft wail, exposing gums black with decay. Spike slowly advanced upon Twilight, his claws outstretched.

As Twilight backed away, her mouth flopping agape with fright, she saw other figures trudging into the light of her candle. The figures lumbered toward her, groaning and hissing. Twilight stared wide-eyed at what appeared before her to be walking pony corpses. Each one was a skeleton with black rotted flesh clinging to their bones. Their exposed equine teeth grinned with hungry intent. Their empty eye sockets seemed to glow with an alien light.

Twilight ran from the monstrosities—her candle levitating behind her like a balloon on a string—and into her bedroom, slamming the door shut and locking it.

As Twilight frantically searched for a way out, she saw a blue mist materialize before her. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, and when her vision cleared, she saw an earth pony or at least a likeness of one.

The pony was a mare with long curly hair and wore thin round glasses. She wore a vest of some kind and her Cutie Mark was a telescope. She approached a wall next to the bookshelves. Twilight gawked at the apparition in stunned silence, watching the ghost as she withdrew a book from the shelves. In the library, there were many books that were left behind, a lot of them Twilight had never read. The book the ghost withdrew was one of those books and it bore the title _The __Whisperer __In __Darkness_ written in Equestrian script. The ghost opened the book, and found an old key within its pages. Picking up the key with her teeth, she placed it inside a keyhole fastened to the wall, a keyhole Twilight did not remember seeing there before. With a quick turn, the wall retracted and slid aside, revealing a stairwell descending to a floor below.

Twilight jumped in alarm as she heard the zombies banging on the door. Bone and hoof scrapped against the door as the unearthly beings tried to force it down. She turned toward the ghost as if pleading for her safety, but the ghost—seemingly unaware of the monsters outside—picked up what appeared to be a piece of red chalk in her teeth and carefully wrote a message on the wall.

The bedroom door burst open with a loud creak and the zombies rushed in, swarming Twilight, their jaws snapping.

Twilight turned to the ghost again, but she had vanished. The ghost left behind a simple message written in Equestrian script. In translation, it only spelled a short caveat:

_The Darkness comes._

#

Twilight woke up in a cold sweat. Only the dim moonlight shinning through the window chased away the darkness of her dreams. As she got out from underneath her blanket, she looked at the clock overhead reading 3:33 AM, too early to get up but Twilight was too tense to go back to sleep.

"Twilight, is something wrong?"

Twilight turned her gaze toward Spike who sat in his little bed, staring at her with a worried expression on his face.

"I'm fine. I'm just having another nightmare."

"Again? That's the third time this week. Maybe you should see a doctor."

"No, I'm fine. They're just dreams. Go back to sleep."

"Okay, Twilight, if you say so."

Although Spike managed to fall asleep within minutes, Twilight stood awake for the rest of the night.

#

Twilight was nothing if not curious. Eager to learn more about her dreams, she entered the science section of her library after breakfast, pulled out a book on the subject of dreams, and took it into her bedroom to read in private. She was so engrossed in her book, she barely noticed as her friends entered her room.

"Hey Twi, are ya listening?" asked Applejack.

Twilight did not respond.

"Hello, Equestria to Twilight. Do you read me?"

Twilight finally snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Pinkie wave her hoof in front of her face.

"Wow, when you have your nose in a book, nothing seems to distract ya," said Applejack in jest.

"Did you forget that we were suppose to help Applejack with her harvest today?" asked Rainbow.

"Sorry," apologized Twilight with a nervous laugh. "I forgot." She let out a loud yawn.

"Darling, I hope you didn't stay up all night reading," said Rarity. "A lack of sleep is not good for your skin."

Twilight sighed. "I know. It's just that I haven't been getting enough sleep the past few days."

Spike walked into the room with a stack of books in his hands. "Twilight has been having bad dreams lately."

"Ya don't say. Twi, have ya been reading a lot of horror stories lately." Applejack kept one hoof on the stack of books, helping to keep it upright as Spike set it down on the counter.

"No, it's not that, but for some reason I've been seeing these monsters in my dreams."

"What kind of monsters?" asked Fluttershy.

"I mostly see zombies."

"Z-Zombies." Fluttershy shook with fright. "You don't think zombies are out to get you?"

"Don't be ridiculous," said Twilight. "Zombies don't exist."

"Ha, if I saw zombies in my dreams, I'd kick their butts." Rainbow stood up on her hind legs and started throwing punches in the air.

"Oh really?" Pinkie, in her usually playful mood, also stood on her hind legs. "Oooooo, I'm a zombie. I'm coming to get you, Dash." Pinkie started walking toward Rainbow with her hooves outstretched.

"Don't worry, Twilight, I'll save you from the zombie." Rainbow threw mocked punches at Pinkie.

"Stop roughhousing," said Rarity. "This isn't a joke."

Rainbow got on all fours and gently bucked Pinkie backward. However, Spike, who was setting down another pile of books, so happened to be behind Pinkie. Upon colliding, the two stumbled backward and went crashing through the wall, spraying dust into the air with a muffled thud.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," said Rainbow. "Are you two hurt?"

Pinkie giggled as she brushed herself off. "I'm fine. That wall didn't even hurt."

"In fact," Spike spat out some pieces of the wall out of his mouth, "it tastes like Styrofoam."

As Pinkie got up, bits of the wall crumbled around her head, revealing something behind the wall.

Twilight examined the damage with astonishment. She gasped, shaking her head in disbelief. "Wait, this is a fake wall." With her hind legs, she started bashing it in. As the material came down, it revealed a door-sized rectangular indentation. In the center was a metal keyhole.

"What do ya'll reckon this is?" asked Applejack.

"Th-This is the same door I saw in my dreams," announced Twilight.

"But that's impossible," said Fluttershy.

Rainbow hovered over the keyhole, examining it like a specimen under a microscope. "Did your dream tell you how to open it?"

"Well, there was a key in an old book entitled _The __Whisperer __In __Darkness_."

"Here it is," said Pinkie as she pulled out an old book from a shelf. While she held the book in her teeth, she kicked up some dust, causing her to sneeze. She dropped the book and when it hit the floor, a key fell out of the pages.

Twilight stared at the key, wide-eyed as her scientific mind tried to explain away what she was witnessing. "This...is impossible."

As the prophetic nature of Twilight's dreams began to become clear in everyone's minds, there was an uneasy silence as everyone stared at the key. Even Pinkie was quiet and serious.

"I guess some pony should open the door," suggested Rarity.

Pinkie nudged the key as if to test if it was real. Convinced that it was, she gripped the key with her teeth, inserted it into the wall, and turned it.

There was a loud mechanical click followed by the screech of rusty metal as the door slid open. Behind the door was a stairwell leading down to parts unknown.

Despite her scientific mind casting shadows of doubt, Twilight could not deny the reality of what she saw before her. As if drawn by an invisible force, she approached the stairs, staring blankly into the darkness as she slowly descended.

Her friends followed close behind as they walked down. The stale air of the room irritated their noses, but no one dared to sneeze as if afraid to awaken whatever waited for them. By the time they reached the foot of the stairs, the ponies were blinded by the blackness.

"Okay, I can't see a thing," complained Spike.

Twilight cast a light spell, conjuring a bright glow from her horn, one strong enough to illuminate the entire room. What they saw were papers and pictures either scattered upon every flat surface or hung up on the walls. Everywhere they looked, there were images of strange symbols, some arranged in circles or patterns.

"Oh my..." squeaked Fluttershy, examining the pictures.

Several pictures, particularly on the walls, depicted drawings and photos of ponies who were mutilated either by unnatural monsters or other supernatural means. The ponies searched the room, staring in hypnotized fascination at the strange display of the macabre. Every picture that had monsters drawn on it was sketched with uncanny detail as if the artist saw the monsters up close. The sight of every claw, every tooth, every eye, and every indefinable limb sent shivers down their collective spines.

"Heavens to Betsy," said Applejack as she examined a photo of a decapitated pony, "this is horrible."

"If you think that's scary, look at what I found," said Rainbow, her voice low and serious.

Everyone's focus was drawn to a single object tucked into a corner. It was a glass bell jar with a wooden bottom. In the jar, they could see a charcoal black heart, highlighted with putrid purple. It was suspended by nothing and beating as if alive.

Twilight and her friends stood paralyzed with fright, feeling the evil within the artifact.


	2. The Horrors of the Past

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 2: The Horrors of the Past

In the cold void of space, energies were coursing through the solar system, triggered by an unnatural astronomical event. Magic of divine power descended from the stars and bounced off the planets and the sun like light against a series of mirrors. All of it headed toward Equestria.

#

For the first time, royal guards were brought into Twilight's library as Princess Celestia entered. Although she was usually friendly and sociable, upon learning about Twilight's discovery, she was stern and quiet.

Celestia examined the numerous papers that littered the secret room, carefully going through the photos and drawings as if it was a crime scene. As she looked through the room, Twilight explained what had happened that morning.

"And then Rainbow found this," said Twilight. She pointed a hoof toward the heart in a bell jar. The heart had remained untouched since its discovery, still silently beating.

"This is strange," said Celestia, her voice quiet and monotone.

"Do you know what it is?"

Celestia sighed with a shaky breath as if she was recalling a painful memory. "No, but the symbols around the room...I've seen them before."

"Where?"

"Long ago, before Equestria, before me and Luna, and even before Discord, ponies used to believe in these four gods. I can't remember the details, but I recall that according to legend, these gods came from another world and they settled her in Equestria. There was this feud between three of the gods, a battle that threatened to destroy everything. The most powerful of the four gods used his magic to banish the other three from our world and afterward, hid himself in an underground tomb to sleep until the end of days."

"But what do they have to do with the heart and the runes?"

Once again, Celestia paused, indecisive of whether or not she should continue. "The Ancients, as the gods were sometimes called, were believed to be demonic beings of pure evil. If any one of them were to escape into our world, it would mean the end of all life as we know it."

Twilight stared at the Princess with enthralled fascination. Her skeptic mind buzzed with questions and doubts, but out of sheer wonderment—or fear—she did not want to interrupt.

"Back then, ponies worshiped these gods in preparation for the end of the world. Through their rituals, they also believed it was possible to harness the power of the Ancients using runes like the ones you see before you. However, when Luna and I became the rulers of Equestria, we abolished the practice and destroyed all knowledge of the runes and the Ancients. That's what concerns me though. How is it possible that they could be reproduced again?"

At that point, Twilight's skeptical mind overrode her curiosity. "But surely you can't be serious. Gods don't—"

"FEAR NOT, MY LITTLE PONIES, FOR THY PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT HATH ARRIVED!"

Searching for the source of the interruption, Twilight leaned over to see behind Princes Celestia. At the foot of the stairs was Princess Luna with her two royal guards behind her.

"Uh, indoor voice, Princess."

"Oh...my apologies. We heard about what Twilight Sparkle found here and we wanted to investigate."

Celestia turned to face her sister with a graceful spin. "Thank you for your concern, but I don't need your help right now."

"But there is forbidden magic afoot here. We cannot rest until we ascertain its origins."

"There's no need to worry. It's clear to me that whoever built this room must have abandoned it long ago. The only object I found that might be dangerous is this artifact." Celestia stepped aside so Luna could see the heart.

Luna recoiled upon seeing it. She glared at it, visibly shaking. "That artifact is evil. It must be destroyed."

"But I don't know what we're dealing with here. I believe the best thing to do would be to keep it safe from prying eyes first, then decide on what to do with it." Celestia directly spoke to the guards behind Luna. "Cover the artifact in a cloth and take it back to Canterlot. Make sure no one sees it."

The two guards did as they were instructed.

As they carried the bell jar out, Luna said, "It is prudent that we destroy all evidence in this room."

"Uh, Princesses," spoke Twilight. "Would it be okay if I kept all this?" She used a hoof to gesture at the papers.

"Thou cannot. Where did the absurd idea come about?"

"Well, I want to help with the investigation, and I believe the answer may be in these papers."

"We cannot allow thou to endanger thyself by—"

"I'm sure it's fine," said Celestia. "I doubt the runes are harmful when drawn on a piece of paper. Unless there's another reason you don't want her to look at the papers."

Luna subconsciously averted Celestia's eyes like a defiant child. She opened and closed her mouth with a huff as if searching for something to say, but nothing sprang to mind. It was only after a lengthy pause did she somberly responded. "Nay. We trust our judgment and will relent." With a flash of light and without a single word, she teleported away.

Seeing Luna's behavior weighed heavily upon Twilight's thoughts. "Why was she so upset?"

"Before we took over, there were sects that worshipped the Ancients, and those sects committed horrible acts back then: they raped mares, tortured stallions, and murdered foals in ritualistic sacrifices to their gods. I wiped all evidence of their existence from recorded history in an attempt to stop the violence. If you want to rediscover these forbidden practices, you might not like what you'll find."

#

Two days passed since Celestia removed the heart, but its presence was still felt. Twilight leaned over the notebook she was reading, her candle blazing over its pages. Surrounded by demonic symbols and drawings of abominations and death, it quickly ate away at Twilight's mind, leaving her drained and paranoid. She had the whole room lit with candles, fearing creatures in the shadows. While in that room, she left behind Equestria and was in a world where the supernatural reigned supreme.

The only written accounts that seemed remotely sane were medical transcriptions. All of which described patients who suffered from severe hallucinations or exhibit homicidal tendencies. Although each written account listed the usual subjects one would expect in a medical report—symptoms, medicines, treatments, and medical histories—but what caught Twilight's attention was that the doctor who examined all of these patients was the same.

"Dr. Lionheart, MD, Clinical Psychologist," read Twilight out loud. "Dr. Lionheart? Are you the one who wrote all this?"

Twilight had spent the better part of the day reading through the various journals and papers, leaving her mind swamped with images of the macabre and demented. After such a long day, her resolve to keep reading finally faded when she found a picture of Dr. Lionheart on one of the transcriptions. She shook with fright when she recognized Dr. Lionheart. She had last seen the doctor writing a cryptic message on her wall.

Desperate for something to take her mind off of her readings, she looked around and her eyes caught sight of a painting. It depicted a massive blob covered in eyes and mouths and topped with a crown of serrated teeth encircling a maw. Oozing tentacles wrapped around the pillars of the cave as if the monster was trying to break them off.

In Twilight's blurred vision, she saw the eyes blink and move. She could have also sworn that the tentacles twitched as they pulled.

Twilight rubbed her eyes with her hoof. "I guess I've been reading too long." When she opened her eyes again, she saw a long tentacle reach for her. She gasped in shock as she felt it constrict her in an iron grip. It was warm and slimy against her skin.

Twilight was frozen with fright as she was lifted from the floor. The monster stuck its putrid body out of the painting, its large mouth snapping and gnawing at the air.

As Twilight was carried closer and closer to the mouth, she began to panic, screaming and shouting with fright.

"TWILIGHT!"

As if nothing had happened, Twilight found herself at the desk again. She turned her gaze to see Spike at the stairwell, a worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "I heard you screaming."

Twilight looked up at the painting and saw that it was still and unmoving like normal. "That painting...i-it came to life and tried to eat me."

"Twilight, did you have another dream again?"

"Maybe...But it was so real..."

Spike gazed at Twilight, his mind indecisively flipping back and forth over whether or not to feel sympathy or concern. "Come on Twilight, it's getting late."

"Okay, I need some sleep." She snuffed out all the candles and headed for bed.

#

Deep within the Everfree Forest was a ruined structure that had fragmented and eroded with time. Hidden by supernatural forces, no mortal had visited the structure in millennia, leaving it abandoned and neglected. Even though the stonewalls had crumbled, the object it housed still stood.

That object was a sphere of glass, magically created and glowing yellow with supernal power. Although solid to the touch, it was not natural and was impervious to outside forces.

Just before sunrise, the energies from space began to build around the ruins. By the time it reached its peak, there was a sudden release of energy that passed through the glass. With an electrical buzz, the glass vanished, and a lone earth pony was revealed, freed from his prison.

The pony slowly erected himself into a hard stance, his heavily muscle-bound body flexed like living iron, moving with absolute fluidity as if he had not been paralyzed for centuries.

His coat was tinted blood red, a contrast to his coal black mane. Upon his head was a metal helm, a remnant of his days as a soldier. The helmet itself was made up of a single fortified crown with interlocking sheets that lay along the back of the pony's neck. The top was shaped into a horrid skull, jagged and alien.

He opened his eyes, revealing white orbs. One look at those eyes and one might mistake him for blind. On the contrary, his vision was god-like, able to see everything with uncanny precision. No sound was beyond his perception. Smells were everywhere in a perfume of the world. Vibrations in the ground passed through his hooves, telling him of every living thing touching the earth. He could even hear the voices of ponies in Ponyville.

Amongst all the various noises, conversations, and indiscernible babble that blighted his ears, he was able to filter all of it until he heard the voices of ponies gossiping about a strange artifact found in a library owned by Twilight Sparkle. The pony galloped through the forest. Every tree and rock that got in his way was easily shattered into pieces, never impairing the pony's sprint, not even slightly.


	3. Cursed Cutie Marks

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 3: Cursed Cutie Marks

Twilight was shuffling randomly through the papers when she came across an envelope. She carefully withdrew the paper within, and to her surprise, the paper was covered in runes, not like the ones that were arranged in circles and patterns, this piece of paper had runes conveniently arranged in a list. With each rune, vague information was written next to it. The rune on the top of the list had a foreign word written next to it followed by what Twilight assumed was a definition.

"_Santak. __Target __self_." She looked at the rune below that one. "_Redgormor. __Target __area_." She quickly scanned the sheet with her eyes. She suspected that the runes were glyphic in nature and meant a specific word, kind of like the pictographs ponies use. _Could __these __runes __really __be __the __key __to __unlocking __the __power __of __the __Ancients?_

Setting the list of runes aside, she snuffed out the candles and left the secret room.

"Spike, where are you?"

Spike suddenly appeared beside her. "Yes, Twilight."

"I need you to send this to the Princess." She telekinetically handed to Spike a roll of paper tied with a bow.

"What is it?"

"It's a summation of my findings."

Spike took the piece of paper and exhaled a burst of green flame. The parchment dissolved into smoke and floated away out the window.

"Spike, I need you to look after the library for me this morning. I have to leave to the City Hall. Hopefully I can find some more information on Dr. Lionheart. Will you be okay?"

"You can count on me."

"I won't be gone long." With an appreciative smile, Twilight casually left the library.

Free of Twilight and with no chores to do, he withdrew a comic book off the shelves (Spider-Mare #386 to be exact) and casually read through its pages. Without any other soul in the library, it was silent to the point where even the flip of pages seemed amplified.

Interrupting the silence was a sudden crack that echoed throughout the library.

Fearing something had fallen over, Spike sprinted down the stairs into the main part of the library. As he skidded to a halt, he saw the front door torn from its hinges and the door discarded to the side. As Spike glared in disbelief and anger, he noticed a lone stallion tossing books off the shelves.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Spike stormed toward the pony, but he hesitated when he saw the pony's eyes.

The stallion stared at Spike with large white eyes, causing Spike to retreat a few steps. The stallion's large size and skull shaped helmet was intimidating enough, but the pony had this unearthly persona to him. Looking into those cold eyes was like staring into hell itself.

"Uh, w-what are you doing here?" Spike held his ground despite every instinct urging him to escape. "You can't just break into the library like that."

The stallion stood there in quiet contemplation, pausing for a few tense seconds before responding. "Pity."

"Pity?"

"It's a pity that ponies seem to have lost respect for the divine."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Who are you?"

The pony let out a low growl. "I'm Abdullah, and you will respect me because when my master brings the Eternal Darkness, only the faithful will be spared damnation."

"Eternal Darkness?" Despite his fear, Spike eyed Abdullah as if he was looking at a lunatic. "You're crazy. There's no such thing."

"Then perhaps a sample of my master's power will convince you." Abdullah raised one hoof and slammed it down. With that simple act, three runes suddenly appeared on the floor around him. The runes glowed red with demonic energy as an incantation was spoken by a monstrously humanoid voice.

_Antorbok...Redgormor...Chattur'gha._

Before Spike could react, a bolt of magical energy struck him at full force, knocking him onto his back. Spike writhed painfully on the floor, screaming as every nerve in his body came alive in agony. By the time the spell passed, Spike was covered in seared lacerations. Before he could get up, Abdullah pounced onto Spike, applying force onto the dragon's chest, making it hard for him to breath.

"No, please stop."

"Then tell me, where is it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Abdullah slugged Spike in the abdomen with a kick of his hoof.

Spike clutched his bruised stomach in agony.

"Where is it? Where is the Essence of Mantarok?"

Spike was sobbing with pain and fright. "I'm telling you, I don't know what you're talking about."

Abdulla let out a monstrous roar. "If you don't talk, you will suffer."

#

Meanwhile, far away from Ponyville, there was a veil, but not a physical one. This was a nightmare made manifest into an invisible cage. Although it could not be seen, if any pony were to walk into it, they would die from horrific visions. However, despite the unnatural influx of dreams and insanity, there was one living occupant trapped inside.

The celestial magic came down upon the veil in a glow of yellow light, and like a breeze clearing away the fog, it removed the veil.

As it dematerialized, a unicorn stallion appeared. He opened his eyes, brushing off the terrors he was exposed to like any ordinary dream.

His coat was a hauntingly beautiful sapphire color. His eyes were the deepest blue to match the rest of him. What stood him apart, aside from his Cutie Mark, was his odd mane. Rather than hair, his mane and tail was made of dancing blue smoke, not unlike Nightmare Moon.

The stallion suddenly shook with pleasure as his senses came alive again. Everywhere around him, he could feel the power of magic, the spiritual energy that powered all life. Every time a unicorn casted a spell, or a pegasus walked on clouds, or even an earth pony using her loving energies to tend to the earth, the magic of Equestria was everywhere, an open book to his senses.

Like a spotlight in the darkness, he felt something interesting. Someone was using the magic of the gods.

"Abdullah, are you that reckless?" With a flash of blue light from his horn, he teleported away.

#

Spike was shaking with fright. He ran his sharp claws against Abdullah's leg, but it was like trying to scratch solid stone.

"You dare defy me."

Spike blew fire into Abdullah's face, but the red stallion did not flinch, nor was his face harmed in any way.

"Please," Spike was sobbing hysterically, "let me go."

Abdullah did not relent. He kept one hoof against Spike's chest, threatening to smash his ribcage like an egg.

"Resorting to violence again, Abdullah?"

Abdullah flinched in surprise, taking his hoof off of Spike, allowing the dragon to breath again. Abdullah stood his ground, his ears and eyes searching for the intruder. His senses made it impossible for any mere mortal to sneak up on him. However, there was one who could do it. "Tarik, where are you?"

"It seems that after 5,000 years, you haven't forgotten me." The voice seemed to echo along the walls without a definite origin.

"I know it's you, Tarik. Show yourself, you coward."

With a flash of light, Tarik materialized before Abdullah. The unicorn lay on one of the tables as if he was making himself comfortable in a guest home.

Abdullah turned to face Tarik, and as he did, Spike got a close look at his Cutie Mark. On Abdullah's flank was a rune, a rune not unlike the ones Twilight had been studying. Curious, Spike dragged himself over, and noticed a different rune on Tarik's flank.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Abdullah.

Tarik rolled off the table and back onto his hooves. "The same reason why you are here. Of course, I already know the Essence of Mantarok is not in this library."

"Even if that were true, I won't let you find it before me." Abdullah charged toward Tarik at full gallop.

Tarik's horn glowed as a blue force field appeared, repelling Abdullah upon crashing into it.

"You are nothing more than an uncivilized barbarian," said Tarik, dispelling the force field. "Your strength is useless against the power of magic." Tarik's horn glowed a bright blue as he built up his energies. With his magic, he conjured five runes onto the floor around him. Each rune glowed a mystical blue as a soothingly evil voice from an unseen specter recited the incantation.

_Antorbok...Pargon...Redgormor..._

Abdullah charged toward Tarik, but Tarik easily teleported away. Even though Tarik left the circle of runes, the spell continued

_Ulyaoth...Pargon._

Abdullah cried out in pain as a blue magical energy coursed through his body, burning his flesh. Despite his pain, Abdullah kicked wildly in the air, unable to sense Tarik's presence. "Come back and fight me."

"Oh, must it all end in violence," said Tarik as he materialized in front of Abdullah.

Abdullah swung a hoof toward Tarik, but Tarik easily grabbed him telekinetically and tossed Abdullah across the room, smashing a bookcase to pieces.

Abdullah quickly pulled himself onto his hooves. "This isn't over yet." Abdullah blasted his way through the wall, shredding a pony-sized hole into it, and ran full force out of Ponyville.

With Abdullah gone, Tarik was left alone. He searched the library with his eyes, but Spike was nowhere in sight. He teleported away, off to find the Essence.

#

When Twilight returned home, she was surprised to see a group of ponies gathered outside her door, drawn by the commotion from earlier. She was even more surprised to see a gaping hole in her wall. She muscled her way through the crowd, entering through the broken door.

"SPIKE!" Twilight gasped in horror when she saw the inside of her library in shambles. "Spike, where are you?" She dug through ruined books and shatter furniture, desperate to find little assistant. As she looked through the room, she found shallow hoof imprints on the floor as if some gargantuan pony had been stomping his way inside. As she telekinetically moved a broken table, she saw a trail of red staining the floor. She followed the trail up the stairs, noticing faint dragon footprints. Quickening her pace, she climbed to the top of the stairs and into her bedroom. The blood led her down into blackness of the secret room.

"Spike, are you in here?" She waited in silence, hoping for some sign of life.

From within the darkness, a dim glow appeared as a lantern was lit by fiery breath.

Twilight could see Spike, holding the lantern aloft and dripping from his drying injuries.

"Spike, what happened?" Twilight grabbed a first aid kit from her saddlebags and began telekinetically wrapping up Spike's injuries.

"There were these two stallions...they broke into the library and attacked me."

"But what did they want?"

"There was this really big earth pony who kept asking about something called the Essence of Mantarok."

By the time Twilight was done treating Spike's injuries, he looked like a badly wrapped piñata.

"The Essence of Mantarok? What does that mean?"

"I don't know. The really big pony said his name was Abdullah. Then there was this unicorn who showed up named Tarik. The two fought each other and I escaped."

"Is there anything else you could tell me?"

"Well...I did see Abdullah use magic."

"I thought you said Abdullah was an earth pony."

"He was, but he somehow cast a spell using these glowing runes."

"Runes?" Twilight telekinetically gave Spike the sheet of paper with the runes listed on it. "Did those runes look anything like this?"

Spike grabbed the paper, examining it in the dim lantern light. "Yes, actually. He created these three runes on the floor and cast a spell. Tarik used magic the same way."

"But...that would mean..." Twilight's mind began to race. She remembered what Princess Celestia told her about the runes and spell casting. _Was __it __possible __someone __had __that __power?_ Once again, her skeptical mind tried to force a logical explanation into the situation, but the sight of Spike covered in cuts and hearing his explanation was starting to wear on Twilight's skepticism.

Spike gawked at the paper, his mouth agape with shock. "Twilight, look at this." He pointed his finger at a rune near the bottom of the paper. "Abdullah, his Cutie Mark looked exactly like this rune."

Twilight examined the paper. Like all the runes, the one Spike pointed at also had a foreign word and a definition. As she tried to read it, she felt a chill run down her spine as if she was invoking a terrible evil. "_Chattur__'__gha. __The __embodiment __of __strength._ Spike, are you sure Abdullah had _this_ rune for a Cutie Mark?"

"Positive, and Tarik...his Cutie Mark looked like this rune." Spike pointed to the rune below Chattur'gha.

"_Ulyaoth. __The __embodiment __of __magic._"

"What could it mean?"

"I don't know." Twilight leaned over and read the third rune under Ulyaoth. "_Xel__'__lotath. __The __embodiment __of __the __mind_." She looked at the final rune and gasped. "Spike, what did you say Abdullah was after?"

"He said he wanted the Essence of Mantarok. Why do you ask?"

Twilight used her horn to point at the rune at the bottom of the page. "_Mantarok. __The __embodiment __of __death_. I think these four are the names of the gods the Princess was telling me about."

"But why would Abdullah and Tarik have these symbols for Cutie Marks?"

Twilight's skeptical mind again tried to reach for a comforting and familiar explanation, but the reality of the situation reduced it to a mere whisper. "I don't know, but I suspect the Princesses are in danger. Come on." She telekinetically lifted Spike onto her back and carried him to her writing desk.

With all due haste, she got Spike to write a message to Princess Celestia and he sent it away.

As the letter flew off in the form of a flaming mist, Twilight caught sight of a rainbow speeding across the sky. She and Spike stepped away from the open window as they watched the rainbow make a hard turn. As they expected, Rainbow Dash came to an abrupt landing through their window.

"Hey Twilight, why is there a huge hole in your library?"

"Thank Celestia you're here. I need you to take Spike to the hospital."

When Rainbow caught sight of Spike, she flew up to him, examining his injuries. "What happened?"

"Spike was attacked by an intruder. I need you to take him to the hospital right away. He'll explain what's going on. Once you've done that, I need you to find Pinkie Pie and Rarity and tell them what happened. I'll find Fluttershy and Applejack."

"Got it."

Rainbow scooped up Spike with one hoof and tossed him onto her back.

"Ow, careful," whined Spike. Despite the pain, he grabbed onto Rainbow's side for dear life as Rainbow sped off toward the hospital in a flash of rainbow light.

With Spike in safe hands, Twilight began to concentrate, focusing her energies toward Sweet Apple Acres. In a flash, she teleported.

#

When she opened her eyes, she did not see the Apple Family home like she was suppose to. Instead, she was in the woods miles out of Ponyville.

"Wait, this doesn't look like Sweet Apple Acres," said Twilight as she examined her surroundings. As she tried to get her bearings, she heard an unearthly voice chanting behind her.

_Bankorok...Pargon...Aretak...Ulyaoth...Pargon._

Twilight felt her muscles tauten, leaving her as stiff as a statue. She tried to teleport away, but the spell that held her disabled her magic.

Like a phantom, Tarik materialized before her. "Such incredible power for a mortal. I think my master will enjoy consuming your energy."


	4. The Dark Equine Trinity

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 4: The Dark Equine Trinity

Far away from Ponyville was a stone slab, indistinguishable from the surrounding rock, but it was far from ordinary. While rocks around it cracked and eroded, this rock was untouched by time. No terrestrial force could harm it, but an extraterrestrial force could. Like a lightning bolt, magic from the stars came down upon the rock, and just like that, it shattered into sand.

As the remains blew away in the wind, it revealed a lone pegasus. Her lime green coat was stretched over a scrawny body, making her look like a skeleton with skin. Her mane and tail was thin and white like cobweb. Fluttering in the wind, the hairs looked ghostly and delicate. The mare was able to spread her wings and move her emaciated body despite millennia of imprisonment. Although her body was weak, when she opened her eyes, they glowed a bright green, revealing a mind that was vast like an ocean. If one were to look into those glowing orbs, one could see a maelstrom of knowledge, emotions, and thoughts swirling in a collective conscious, all contained in a single skull.

She reached out and could feel the minds of every living thing. Every mind was open to her and she could probe them all with ease. No thought or emotion was sacred to her. As she searched, she felt the minds of Tarik and Twilight. She opened her wings and took off, conjuring an illusion to hide herself.

#

Twilight fought to break free of the binding spell both physically and magically, but the spell easily disabled her powers and its hold was too strong to pull free.

Tarik circled around her, eyeing her with a hungry gaze. "Try as you may, but you will not escape. My power over the magical arts is superior to any mere mortal. That is why I was able to redirect your teleportation here."

"Y-You brought me here? But that's impossible."

"With the power of Ulyaoth, nothing is impossible."

Twilight shook with fright. The rationale of her skeptical mind was gone as she saw and felt Tarik's demonic power. "What is it you want?"

"Your name is Twilight Sparkle, the owner of the library?"

"Yes."

"Recently, did you find anything that did not belong? A beating heart, perhaps?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Lying to me will only work toward your detriment. If Abdullah was searching your library for it, then it must have been there. Furthermore, I doubt it was a coincidence that your library would have all those rune signs and ancient knowledge conveniently secluded in a secret room. You know where the Essence of Mantarok is and you will tell me." Before he could get his answer, Tarik's ears twitched. "Aw, it seems we have a visitor."

From out of the trees, Abdullah rocketed into the air in an angelic leap, making an arc toward Tarik.

Tarik effortlessly caught Abdullah telekinetically. "How many times must I tell you to think before you strike?"

Abdullah struggled against Tarik's magic, but nonetheless remained helpless as he fought to break free.

Tarik threw Abdullah across the ground, smashing him against the dirt with a loud thud.

Abdullah sprung back onto his hooves. With a stamp of his leg, he smashed the ground, causing the earth to crack.

With his horn glowing brightly, Tarik easily levitated off the ground out of harm's way.

Abdullah stomped the ground again, tossing rocks into the air and bucking them toward Tarik with his hind legs.

Tarik shattered the rocks into dust with a concentrated burst of energy from his horn. His horn glowed a brilliant blue as he built up his power. "Now, experience the wrath of Ulyaoth." Tarik's horn was as bright as the sun as he conjured not one but five circles of power around Abdullah. Each one reciting the spell at the same time in an ominous echo.

Like a fierce electrical storm, Abdullah was blasted with several magical energy attacks. He shrieked in pain as each attack burned deep into his flesh, leaving him collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely.

"You...killed him..." said Twilight, staring in shock at Abdullah.

"Of course not," said Tarik. "He can survive more abuse than any mere mortal. Besides, as frustrating as it is, I need him alive in case," Tarik froze as a sudden chill came over him, "_she_ shows herself."

Twilight felt it, too. It was like an alien cold was in the air. Although Tarik's spell prevented her from turning her head, her eyes darted in every which way to see where the odd presence was coming from.

"Mert, where are you?" shouted Tarik, his eyes searching frantically in all directions.

Although Tarik was smug and confident when he defeated Abdullah, Twilight could see worry in his eyes. He gently swayed from side to side with discomfort.

Like a ghostly phantom, a pegasus materialized in front of Tarik. Her green eyes glowed with power.

"Leave this place, Mert," ordered Tarik. "This unicorn is mine."

"_We laugh at your challenge. He thinks he is more powerful than us. Let's destroy him...but we can't...no we must._"

What startled Twilight was that she could hear Mert speak, but Mert's mouth did not move at all. She maintained the same deadpan expression the whole time. In fact, as Twilight thought about it some more, she realized that she did not hear Mert's voice with her ears, but instead heard it telepathically in her head.

"_For thousands of years, we've dreamed of nothing more than haunting your nightmares. Yes, what horrors we bring. We shall kill him. Or drive him insane." _Mert circled around Tarik, her glowing eyes never leaving his.

As Mert walked, Twilight got a good look at Mert's Cutie Mark, and immediately recognized the rune on her flank. It belonged to Xel'lotath.

With a glow of his horn, Tarik used another magical attack spell.

_Antorbok...Redgormor...Ulyaoth._

A blue energy shot fourth, but rather than hitting Mert, it swerved around her. Desperate, Tarik tried to pin her down telekinetically, but like a hand grasping at smoke, his powers would not connect.

"_Find us if you _can." Mert seemed to replicate herself like an ameba, surrounding Tarik in phantoms. Each phantom mirrored each other's movement, a mere reflection of the real thing.

Tarik directed his energies wildly, searching for Mert, but she was well hidden behind her illusions.

_Antorbok...Par—_ Tarik's spell was interrupted, causing a shower of sparks. He convulsed in agony as he felt his mind being invaded. He shot blasts of magic from his horn, but each blast merely passed through the replicants as if they were fog.

Tarik screamed in terror as he was bombarded with horrific hallucinations. His vision blurred into a mesh of colors. Injuries that were not there burned his flesh. He fought to use his magic, but his mind was too clouded, overwhelmed by hellish sensations. The hallucinations were so intrusive, it hampered his very sense of reality, until he collapsed on the ground, unresponsive to the world around him.

Twilight could not believe what she had just seen. Tarik had defeated Abdullah without much effort, and yet this strange pony easily conquered him.

Mert suddenly materialized before Twilight, her gaze piercing into Twilight's soul. "_Now, you will reveal to us where the Essence of Mantarok is_."

Twilight felt Mert snake her way into her mind. Every thought and memory Twilight had was suddenly open to Mert. Twilight fought the psychic intrusion, but Mert was strong, pushing effortlessly against her mental defenses. Within minutes, Mert found a memory...of Canterlot and Princess Celestia.

As Twilight fought to protect her own mind, her eyes suddenly caught sight of Abdullah. The massive pony was standing on his own four hooves, his injuries rapidly healing.

Through Twilight's mind, Mert saw what she saw. She pulled free of Twilight and spun around to face the new threat. Without a word, Mert vanished into thin air.

Despite Mert's illusions, Abdullah's highly evolved senses could easily see through her invisibility. His eyes followed her as she was taking off into the sky, as visible as daylight to Abdullah. He leaped into the air and easily kicked Mert back down to the ground with a loud smack, breaking her invisibility.

Mert flipped back onto her feet and stared at Abdullah, trying to work her way into Abdullah's mind, but it was like hitting a brick wall, absolutely impenetrable.

Abdullah threw himself onto Mert, mercilessly kicking her in the abdomen.

Unable to fight back, Mert had to use her wings to keep airborne to dodge Abdullah's attacks, but Abdullah was faster than her and delivered another strike to the chest, knocking her onto her back. Mert could taste her own blood in her mouth.

Mert conjured more illusionary replicants of herself, surrounding her opponent with phantoms. However, Abdullah could smell the real Mert. He charged toward her, passing through the illusion and punched her, knocking her onto her back again.

Mert tried to fly away, but Abdullah was merciless. With a lion's pounce, he forced her to the ground and held her in place with his body weight. He ruthlessly struck Mert repeatedly in the face and chest. After only a few punches, Mert was left lying dazed on the ground, bleeding from her injuries.

With Mert out of the way, Abdullah sprinted toward Twilight, intending to take her for himself. However, within the time he spent fighting Mert, Tarik was able to recover from Mert's psychic assault.

Before Abdullah could reach Twilight, Tarik easily tossed him aside using telekinesis. Before he could do anything else, he felt Mert's consciousness entering his, forcing more hallucinations into his mind. Mert flew toward Twilight, but Abdullah tackled her, forcing her back down.

Twilight watched the fight in amazement. Every time one got the upper hand over another, the third would intervene. The three fought over Twilight, never truly gaining the upper hand. As the fight raged on, Twilight could only gawk in fascination as the relationship of these three deities became apparent to her. _Strength beats mind. Mind beats magic. Magic beats strength._

_Bankorok...Pargon...Redgormor...Ulyaoth...Pargon._

The five runes Tarik summoned created an enclosed force field, protecting him from Abdullah who struck the field with his hooves, but was unable to break it.

Hovering high out of reach, Mert used her own magic. Five runes appeared in mid air around her. Each one glowed green as the incantation was spoken by a monstrously angelic voice.

_Nethlek...Pargon...Redgormor...Xel'lotath...Pargon._

With a flare of magical energy, the spell extinguished Tarik's force field in an instant. However, it also undid the binding spell that held Twilight in place. Without hesitation, Twilight teleported away.

The three foes ceased their assault upon realizing the prize they had been fighting for was gone. Growling in anger, Abdullah ran off in a blur, smashing through trees along the way.

Tarik teleported away without a word.

As for Mert, she flew off, heading toward Canterlot.


	5. A Princess's Shame

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 5: A Princess's Shame

Before invading the royal castle, Mert's mind reached out to all corners of Equestria. She could sense that Tarik had retreated to the Everfree Forest, but Abdullah still eluded her. Not wanting to accidently attract the attention of the others, she chose to use stealth.

Like a ghost, she hovered into the castle through an open window, and found herself inside a ballroom, the same where the Grand Galloping Gala was held. Since there were no special events happening, the only occupants were two royal guards who patrolled the halls for intruders. She carefully floated down toward the two stallions, listening in on their conversation.

"So how's little Candy Apple doing?" asked one of the guards.

"Aw, she's growing up so fast. In fact, she got her Cutie Mark just yesterday."

"Oh, what does it look like?"

Before the stallion got his answer, Mert forced her way into their minds. Although they tried to resist, their will was even weaker than Twilight's will. She easily invaded their minds, causing the two to stare blankly forward in a daze. Mert carefully searched through their memories, invading every private thought they had until she found their knowledge of the castle. Although she did not find any information on the Essence specifically, she did learn that important objects were stored in a safe in Canterlot tower. Armed with this knowledge, she erased their memories of her intrusion, and she flew off, heading toward the tower.

#

Despite their busy life as the rulers of Equestria, the two royal sisters often spent their free time together. The princesses were lounging in their sleeping chambers, enjoying the summer breeze from their open windows.

Luna lay on her lavish bed, colored dark blue and decorated with stars and planets on the sheets and the headboard. On that particular day, she was looking out at the noonday sun, staring at the sky in deep contemplation.

Celestia was near her own bed, bright red and pink sheets decorated with clouds and suns. She was standing next to Philomena on her perch, carefully pouring a chief-made mix of birdseed into Philomena's food dish.

"I was thinking," said Celestia, "since Philomena is running low on birdseed, perhaps we should go out together to collect some more. What do you think? A whole afternoon just you and me hiking and..." She noticed that Luna was not paying attention. "Sis, what's wrong?"

Luna was snapped out of her daze. "Oh, it is simply that...It is nothing." Luna averted her eyes from Celestia.

"What's wrong?"

Luna paused to formulate a response. "That artifact has been haunting our..._my_ thoughts. I am concerned that it will be the downfall of us all."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad. The Ancients have remained dormant for millions of years. Surely they would..." At that moment, Celestia caught sight of a rolled up letter on her balcony. "Oh, Twilight has sent me another letter already." She telekinetically lifted the letter to her eyes and read through it. "Oh no."

"What has you so concerned?"

"I think you might have been right. According to Twilight's letter, Spike was attacked by these strange ponies...ponies who can use the power of the Ancients."

"What?" Luna leaped off the bed. "How can that be? The knowledge to use rune magic has been lost for centuries."

"I don't know but we need to..." Celestia froze.

A strange chill ran down the princesses' collective spines as they inexplicably felt the presence of unholy magic. Luna and Celestia gathered at the window, looking up at the top of the tower where the presence of evil radiated from there like a spotlight.

#

_Nethlek...Pargon...Redgormor...Pargon...Pargon...Xel'lotath...Pargon._

The safe in Canterlot tower was enchanted by Princess Celestia, her power reinforcing the door in an invincible barrier that no other pony could break. However, with the power of the Ancients, Mert's spell erased the enchantments from the safe with ease. She easily pried the safe open with her hooves, and inside, she found a large gold chest which housed the Elements of Harmony. Next to it was a beating heart in a bell jar.

"_Mantarok, you only delayed the inevitable._" She reached for the bell jar but hesitated. "_We're not alone. Who dares to intervene?_" Before she turned around to see them, she could feel the minds of two earth ponies...and two alicorns.

Sure enough, as she spun around in the air, she saw the royal sisters accompanied by two guards. The guards had sharpened pikes clutched in their teeth and were pointing them at Mert in a threatening pose.

"_Kill them all. Aw, so you two must be the royal princesses. We must flee before we're discovered._"

The guards fidgeted, unnerved by the way Mert telepathically talked to them.

"I don't know who you are," shouted Celestia, "but for breaking into the castle and stealing an artifact under royal protection, you should be arrested confined for questioning."

"_Her power is no match for our mistress. I laugh at your challenge._" Mert hovered over the prize she sought like a hungry raptor protecting her prey.

Luna stood her ground with the confidence of tortoise standing against a train, her legs itching to get out of danger. Although Celestia was fearless, Luna's resolve was quickly fading upon seeing Mert and the reality of her existence.

From across the room, Mert used her influence upon one of the guards.

The guard shrieked in terror as he dropped his pike and clawed at himself. He shook in pain and fright, the illusions becoming too intense. He toppled over on his side and shook with fright.

As the guard convulsed violently on the ground, Celestia tried using her magic to help him but to no avail. She could only watch helplessly as blood was oozing from every orifice of the guard. With his sanity drained away into an incoherent mess, his constitution suffered. Like a fish out of water, he flopped onto the ground until his organs failed and he lay still in a pool of blood.

Celestia and Luna stared with their mouths agape at the dead guard before them. They had not seen such violence in over a thousand years.

Her anger rising, Celestia turned toward Mert, lowering her horn in a threatening posture. "How dare—" She cringed in pain as she felt Mert's influence already eating its way at her sanity. She fought to regain control, but Mert's powerful telepathy dug deep into her mind.

"Sis, what is wrong?" asked Luna.

Luna's voice seemed muffled to Celestia's ears as the hall began to melt away before her eyes. By the time the hall was completely gone, Luna's voice seemed distant like an inaudible whisper. The light of the hall was replaced by an endless blackness that was suffocating and lonesome. All around her, she felt like someone was staring at her. Her ears caught the sound of whispers.

"It's not real. It's not real." Celestia repeated that mantra over and over again.

"Not real?" echoed a voice in the darkness. "I beg to differ."

She recognized that voice. She turned her head from side to side, searching frantically for the voice's point of origin. "You can't be here, you were turned to stone. You can't be real."

"Quite the contrary." In a flash of white light, Discord materialized in front of her, but he was rotted like a corpse. His skin was discolored and peeling away, revealing exposed muscle. His eyeballs were missing, staring at Celestia with empty eye sockets. "If this wasn't real, than I wouldn't be able to do this." Discord grabbed her horn and tore it off with a cacophonous snap. He unceremoniously plunged the horn into Celestia's chest.

Celestia fought to break free of the hallucination, but the pain was too real to ignore. As Discord drove the horn deeper, Celestia could feel her body growing stiff. She looked down in horror as her body turned to stone from the wound. Her body screamed with agony as every cell became hard and stiff. She tried to let out a cry for help, but her lungs suddenly became stiff. Her body was as hard as stone, but her mind was awake to feel the agony. Her brain was trapped in a lifeless shell, unable to turn away from Discord's grinning face.

#

Outside of the nightmare, Celestia was on her side, barely moving, her lifeless eyes gawking out into space.

"Sis!" cried Luna.

The other guard also stood aside, watching helplessly.

With one princess down, Mert forced her will onto Luna.

Luna convulsed as her senses began to fail. Before her eyes, the halls turned into a monochrome green. She fought to resist the intrusion, but she was just as helpless as her sister. Despite her fears, she knew she had one choice. _We cannot allow her to escape. For the future of Equestria...we must use _that _power._ Desperate, her horn glowed as she built up her magic, fighting to maintain control. Much to the surprise of the guard and Mert, three red runes appeared under Luna's hooves.

_Antorbok...Redgormor...Chattur'gha._

A bolt of magical energy shot forth from Luna and struck Mert, knocking her back and releasing her hold on Luna.

#

Tarik was in the Everfree Forest when he felt Luna's spell. He paused out of curiosity. It was a Chattur'gha spell he felt, but he knew that Abdullah was nowhere near Canterlot. His power could detect the magical energies of any living thing except Mert and her magic, but if Luna was using rune magic, then Mert could be there, too. With a glow of his horn, he teleported to Canterlot.

#

_Narokath...Santak...Xel'lotath._

Luna could feel her spell restoring her sanity. The distortions that Mert's power caused faded away. With her focus back, she stood her ground as she prepared for another spell.

Mert anxiously fidgeted when she detected Tarik appearing outside Canterlot. She knew that he must have been drawn by the spell Luna casted. Unable to sense Abdullah, she knew that it was essential that she finish this fight quickly before she draws more attention to herself. Turning her focus away from Luna, she worked her will into the lone guard. Rather than drain his sanity, she superseded his will, controlling his mind and body.

Mert was barely able to dodge Luna's second magical attack spell, managing to swerve aside in mid air. She retaliated with her own spell.

_Antorbok...Magormor...Xel'lotath_.

Luna's eyes darted back and forth, wondering what Mert had done. She was so focused on what was in front of her, she did not notice that the spell enchanted the guard's pike, causing it to glow green with power.

Like a puppet, Mert compelled him to raise his pike against Luna.

Luna saw the blade coming down. She dodged it, but the blade struck her horn. Powered by Xel'lotath, the pike cleanly cut off Luna's horn with a loud snap, causing it to clatter onto the floor. Luna was so surprised by the sneak attack, she backed away from the guard as if he was a zombie. She stood there for a tense few seconds, prepared to fight her own servant.

However, the guard just stood there, shaking his head as if he had awoken from a deep sleep. "Your Highness, what happened?"

Luna turned her gaze toward the safe but Mert was gone. She looked down upon Celestia, lying brain-dead on the floor. With her shame and guilt overriding the royal protocols she had lived by, she wept like a little foal.

#

While Luna and Celestia were confronting Mert, Twilight escaped back to Ponyville where she gathered her friends to tell them what happened. With such powerful creatures on the loose, they agreed that they needed the Elements of Harmony to fight them. They traveled to Canterlot Castle, but by the time they got there, they found the place in a state of panic with royal guards running every which way.

"What's going on?" asked Twilight as she and the others stood at the main entrance.

A royal guard skidded to a halt before Twilight. "Someone attacked and injured the princesses."

"No way," said Rainbow, her mouth agape. "But how could that be?"

"Are they all right?" asked Rarity.

"Princess Luna lost her horn during the fight. Princess Celestia has been put under some kind of hypnosis. She's now lying catatonic in her bed."

"Mert," said Twilight grimly under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Take us to Princess Luna. We have information that might help identify and capture the attackers."

"Follow me."

#

The guard led them through the chaotic mess of the castle, leading them up several flights of stairs and into the royal bedroom. There, they found Princess Luna standing beside Princess Celestia who lay in bed, unconscious.

Luna looked up at her visitors, her face sad and regretful. "Come in, Twilight Sparkle. We are glad thou came."

The six friends approached Celestia, staring down at the sleeping form of the princess with morning and loss straining their hearts.

Fluttershy crept over and fixed the bedspread like a worried caregiver, making sure Celestia was tucked in.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Applejack.

"She was placed under a terrible hallucination," said Luna. "I know magic that could save her, but we won't be able to help her until our horn grows back."

Twilight cleared her dry throat before speaking. "Princess, I know who did this to Princess Celestia."

"We know, too...It was the doing of a pegasus named Mert."

"What?" Twilight stared at her in disbelief.

"We know more than that. We know there are two others, Abdullah and Tarik, who seek the Essence of Mantarok."

"Why do they want that heart?" asked Applejack.

Luna felt her throat tighten. "Each of the four Ancients have what is called an Essence, which takes on the form of a statue. The heart you found belongs to Mantarok. These Essences are what allow the Ancients to work their will into our world. It is also the source of their power. After Mantarok bound the other three Ancients, he imprisoned Mert, Abdullah, and Tarik, The reason why they are after the Essence of Mantarok is because they need its power to undue the binding spell on their Ancients."

"But...how do you know all this?" asked Twilight.

Luna felt her throat tighten further, fearing how they would react to the truth. "1,000 years ago, we..." she decided to try dropping formality, "_I_ was given a...book."

"A book?" asked Twilight. "Who gave it to you?"

"No one did. It just appeared. The book informed me about the Ancients and their magic. I eventually gained some mastery over their power with my alicorn magic. However, that power corrupted my magic and it turned me into Nightmare Moon."

As Luna spoke, the full gravity of the situation weighed heavily on the six friends. They quietly listened to the princess. Even Pinkie was poker-faced throughout.

"But what happened to the book?" asked Rainbow.

"It disappeared after I was banished to the moon."

Twilight paused to take in all this new information. "But if you knew all about the Essences and the three ponies this whole time, why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I was afraid." A tear ran down from Luna's left eye. "After 1,000 years away from home, Celestia still forgave me, but she never knew of the terrible power I had mastered. Using rune magic is a terrible crime, and I was afraid she would divine the truth if I told her what I knew. I was concerned she would hate me. But if only I had known Mert and the others would break free of their bonds...It is all my fault this happened."

"Don't cry, Princess," said Twilight. "We forgive you."

Luna wiped the tears from her eyes and maintained her composure. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, but we have no time to waste. I will order the guards to give you supplies and saddlebags. You are to go after Mert and use the Elements of Harmony to stop her and the others.

"But how do we find her?" asked Applejack.

"The other Essences should be buried in an underground city in the desert, not far from Appleloosa."

"But what would happen if Mert finds the other Essences?" asked Fluttershy.

Luna grew stern and cold as she spoke. "Then all hope will be lost."

#

Deep within the desert, Abdullah was quietly meditating. His sharp ears could hear the commotion Mert had caused in Canterlot. Abdullah knew where Mert was going. He could steal the Essence from her, but he did not know where Tarik was because Tarik's magic cloaked himself from Abdullah's senses. Rather than a full on confrontation, he chose to meet his rivals at the underground city. He sprinted off into the desert, traveling at speeds even a pegasus could not beet.


	6. The Forsaken City

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 6: The Forsaken City

Since no one could move the sun, it hung high in the sky like a spotlight, static as if it was a beacon trying to give Equestria its last bit of light...before the Darkness.

With their saddlebags hastily packed, the six friends flew off in a carriage pulled by pegasi en route to the desert. As they flew, the only two ponies that talked were Pinkie and Rainbow. The rest were quietly contemplating what they would find. No more was this truer than with Twilight who sat at the edge of the window. Rather than enjoying the plush and velvety settings of the royal carriage, she was lost in her own mind.

The inside of the carriage was decorated in orange silk that felt soft and smooth for its passengers and the open windows let in a nice breeze, but there was nothing to provide entertainment, forcing Pinkie and Rainbow to find ways to pass the time.

"I spy with my little eye, something that begins with C," said Pinkie.

"Is it clouds?" asked Rainbow, disinterested.

"Correct. Okay, how about this one: I spy with my little eye, something that begins with S."

"Is it the sun?"

"Aw, how did you guess so easily?"

"We're flying in the air. There isn't much up here to see."

As the two talked, Applejack was the first to notice Twilight's distracted gaze. "Hey Twi, are ya feelin' okay?" When Twilight did not respond, Applejack gave her a hard nudge with her hoof.

Twilight shook her head as if she was ruefully awaken from a dream. "What is it?"

"You've been so quiet since we left," she said. "Is there somethin' on yar mind?"

"It's just that," Twilight hesitated, reluctant to share, "I'm afraid...You haven't been reading Dr. Lionheart's notes like I did. According to Lionheart, ponies who had a brush with the Ancients were driven made or killed."

"But what did that old quack know?"

"There's something. I went to City Hall to find more information on her, and I learned that she frequently went on archaeological trips, and..." Twilight paused when she noticed Fluttershy and Rarity listening to her. Twilight's voice was low. "Never mind."

Seeing Twilight's eyes shift nervously, Applejack chose not to press her for answers.

"I spy with my little eye, something that begins with S."

"Is it the sun again?"

"No, it's the sky."

Rainbow did a facepalm in frustration. "Ugh, this game is boring. Why don't you find something else? Something more challenging?"

"Okay." Pinkie sat on the left side of the carriage, but she spontaneously decided to walk passed Applejack and looked out of the window on the right side. "I spy with my little eye, something that begins with H."

"H? Uh, is it hay?"

"No, it's a hole. I really big hole."

"A hole?" Twilight looked over the edge and noticed what appeared to be a large tunnel leading straight into the ground. The tunnel was too straight to be natural and it looked like it had been dug recently.

"What's such a large hole doin' here?" asked Applejack, nudging Pinkie aside so she could have a better look.

"I don't know but there's something really strange going on here." Twilight leaned out of the window to speak to the pegasi pulling the carriage. "Could you three take us down?"

The stallion pegasi directed the carriage down to the ground and they landed gracefully next to where the hole was.

Upon closer inspection, the hole was at an angle and went straight down uninterrupted. The newly disturbed walls were fragilely crumbling with every strong breeze that blew down into the darkness.

"Do we have to go down that dirty hole?" asked Rarity, coughing from inhaling the dust in the air.

"It looks like this hole was dug up recently," said Twilight. "Which means we might have to go down there."

"But's what's strong enough to burrow through dirt as if it was made of chocolate cake?" asked Pinkie, licking her lips at the thought of her own simile.

"Abdullah, I would imagine," said Twilight.

"Are we really going in there?" asked Fluttershy, shaking.

Mustering as much confidence in her voice as she could, Twilight responded, "Yes, but don't worry, girls. I've got the Elements of Harmony in my saddlebags and we got each other."

Luckily for Twilight, Rainbow finished her speech. "Yeah, together, Nightmare Moon and Discord couldn't stop us and neither would some dopey ol' gods."

The others let out cheers of agreement except for Fluttershy who remained silent and nervious.

"All right, follow me," said Twilight, "and stay close." She conjured a light from the tip of her horn and crept down the tunnel, her friends following close behind.

Slowly, the six ponies made their way down into the unknown. Within the dim light of Twilight's horn, they could not see where the tunnel ended. All they could see was the crumbling walls around them. No one dared to speak as if afraid that the tunnel would cave in at the slightest utterance. Thanks to the debris on the floor, the ground they walked on was unstable under their hooves, crumbling with each step.

Fluttershy let out a cry of freight as she lost her footing under the give of the loose dirt. Before she could regain her balance, she slid into Rarity.

"Fluttershy, what are...?" Rarity bumped into Rainbow who was bumped into Applejack, creating a domino effect and causing the ponies to slide down the tunnel. They all let out screams of alarm as they slid down to the end of the tunnel, landing with a hard thud and leaving them in a tangled pile of bodies. The fall knocked out Twilight's light spell, leaving them in the luminescence of the room.

"Ow, my head," said Rarity as she got onto her hooves. She lifted her gaze and saw two stone eyes staring back. She let out a scream, retreating from the stone pony before her.

As their eyes adjusted, the six friends realized they were inside a dimly lit chamber of some kind. Torches hung on the walls, each one lit by an alien green flame, providing the only light. In the center of it all was a pillar. It was a mass of concrete, but on the outside were bodies of ponies frozen in stone. Their bodies and faces were contorted into horrid poses of agony.

"It looks like they were buried alive," said Rainbow, hovering over one of the stoned ponies as she examined it.

"How awful," said Fluttershy, tears welling up in her eyes.

As they made their way around the pillar, they saw the chamber emptied out onto a balcony. Once there, they beheld the ruins of a dead city. With their vantage point high off the ground, they saw buildings and alien structures constructed from crystal blue metals and stones. The underground city stretched on for miles in all directions with each structure built into haphazard shapes and positions as if the whole city was built with no preplanning (and it probably was not). The only light sources within the city were magic torches and other unearthly illuminants. Although they could see no movement below, they could hear what appeared to be the sounds of monstrous feet clattering against the metal walls like ghosts playing tricks.

Only Applejack had the courage to break the silence. "How will we find Abdullah in this city?"

"I guess we have to keep looking," said Twilight. She walked down the ramp leading to the ground level, her friends following close behind. Upon reaching street level, they found themselves looking out into dark and empty streets. Despite the silence of the place, the ponies could not shake the feeling that they were being watched.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do down here?" asked Rainbow.

"We spread out," said Twilight. "Rainbow, Fluttershy, I need you two to fly overhead and look for any sign of Abdullah. The rest of us will search the ground level. We'll meet back here in 30 minutes."

"Sure, I could do a quick fly around of the place. Come on, Fluttershy." Rainbow opened her wings and rocketed off the ground.

Fluttershy nervously followed. "Rainbow, don't leave me behind."

The rest of the group split up, searching the area for any signs of Abdullah. Although they were tense and expecting an attack from the shadows, the city was quiet and abandoned.

Twilight wondered off deeper into the mysterious streets. Her eyes darted in every which way, hyperaware of every strange sound and sight that crossed her senses. Despite her solitude, the dark shapes around her seemed to twist and move as if alive. As her paranoid imagination took hold of her perceptions, she could have sworn she heard a voice echoing from the walls.

_Twilight..._

"It's not real. It's only my imagination." She repeated that mantra out loud.

_Come to me, Twilight Sparkle._

She clenched her eyes shut, using every bit of her will power to block out the sinister voice.

_Come to me..._

When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing at the entrance to a flight of stairs, led there by luck (or not). As if hypnotized, she crept down the flight of stars, and once she reached the bottom, her eyes were immediately drawn to a mural. Upon the mural was a large tentaclate creature. Although the picture had to have been made thousands of years prior, the painting looked as good as new, showing every putrid detail of the monster. The monster was a collection of mouths and eyes on a single breathing mass of flesh. As Twilight approached the mural, she recognized the monster as the same one from a painting in the secret room. Terrified, but inexplicably drawn to it, she approached the painting. She was so fixated on the mural, she barely noticed the round metal plate on the ground. As soon as she stepped onto the plate, there was a flash of yellow light, and she teleported away.

Naturally, teleporting was an experience she was used to, but in the past, it was always by her own doing. She let out a startled gasp as she materialized onto another plate situated on top of one of the many gothic towers of the underground city.

Upon reappearing on the plate, she had inadvertently triggered a magical trap that had been left there in a bygone century for a conflict long since over. _Bankorok...Redgormor...Xel'lotath._

Before she could react, three green colored runes appeared, and from those runes, a triangular cage of magic formed around her. Twilight's horn glowed with power, but the field would not let her escape, not even by teleportation. She could only helplessly look out at the city through the green haze of the field.

#

"Did you guys find anything?" Applejack met her friends at the rendezvous.

"No, this place looks empty," said Rainbow, hovering off the ground.

"No sign of any monsters," said Fluttershy with a hint of relief in her voice.

Rarity scoffed out of disgust. "Nothing but a lot of tacky décor."

Applejack turned toward Pinkie who was fiddling with something in her bag. "Hey Pinkie, watcha got there?"

"I didn't find Twilight, but I did find this." Pinkie withdrew from her saddlebag a metal disk of some kind.

Rainbow facepalmed. "Pinkie, we don't need useless souvenirs."

"But look at what I can do with it." Pinkie placed the disk on its side, and spun it with a flick of her wrist. As the ring spun, an electric red light appeared in the hole in the center. The small sphere of light remained suspended and bright until the disk lost momentum and toppled over. Once it did, the light vanished as quickly as it appeared. "Isn't it cool?"

"As odd as it looks, I don't think Twilight would want us to carry around something so juvenile," said Rarity while Pinkie placed the disk back into her saddlebag. "Speaking of which, where is she?"

Applejack fidgeted anxiously. "I lost sight of her. I thought she might have caught up with you guys."

"Where did you last see her?" asked Fluttershy.

"It was this way."

Applejack led them to the place where she last saw Twilight. They split up, searching the area and calling out to her until Applejack noticed faint hoof prints in the dirty stone floor. She followed the tracks to the stairs where Twilight had gone.

"Hey, you guys, I think she's down here."

The ponies gathered around Applejack, looking down the dark flight of stairs. Without uttering a single question, they cautiously followed Applejack down the stairs and into an unholy ritual room. The only objects in the room were the magical torches on the walls and the mural of a festering god. The mere sight of the painting sent shivers down the ponies' collective spines as they felt the demonic presence in the air. Fluttershy in particular averted her eyes, too afraid to look upon the horrid image.

"Twilight, where are you?" called out Rainbow, but received no response.

"W-What if she was kidnapped?" said Fluttershy.

Applejack examined the floor, which was clean and spotless. "Maybe, but I don't see any other tracks. The only way out aside from the way we came in is that way." Applejack pointed across the room to a rectangular exit into another hall. "I'm guessin' Twilight might have gone down there."

Rarity took another nervous glance at the painting. "Let's find her so could leave this place."

Fighting all instincts of preservation, the five of them trudged down the hall. They did not notice the plate under the mural and probably would not have thought much of it if they had. But as they left that chamber, something quietly materialized on top of the plate.

The hall led them to a large chamber of some kind. Although its purpose was not obvious, the room seemed to fan out into three directions, giving the room the rough shape of a bird claw. Each point led to more hallways. Much like the previous chamber, there were few decorations on the walls, but it was the floor that caught their attention. Scattered everywhere like a battled field were pony corpses. At least six of them. The bodies looked freshly skinned, showing off the muscles underneath.

"Yuck, this is disgusting," said Applejack, her nose cringing from the smell of the bodies.

"We need to get out of here," whined Fluttershy.

"No way, we have to find Twilight," insisted Rainbow, "and Equestria will be doomed if we don't hurry." She glided passed the corpses at a leisurely pace, hoping the others would follow her example.

"Rainbow, we shouldn't..." Fluttershy faltered nervously.

"Relax, they're dead. They can't hurt you." To prove her point, Rainbow shoved her hoof into the skull of one of the corpses. "You see, they're—" Rainbow let out a startled cry when she saw the corpse's equine teeth nearly bite into her hoof. Rainbow's mouth hung agape, her eyes white with disbelief. All around her, the pony cadavers pulled themselves onto their hooves, hissing with dry breaths.

"Rainbow, get out of there," cried Fluttershy.

With a childish cry, Rainbow zipped passed the zombies and passed her friends, only to halt upon seeing something else in the dark hall.

The five friends coward with shock and disbelief upon seeing another parade of zombies advancing upon them. These zombies were different, though. They were tinted green and wrapped in bandages like mummies. Each aberration stared at the helpless ponies with green glowing empty eye sockets. Their moans echoed throughout the hall with each labored step, blocking the exit.

#

With Twilight expending the last of her energy to break the field, she collapsed to the ground, quietly crying with frustration and dismay. "What are we doing? How are we going to stop creatures even the princesses couldn't defeat?"

In the cold loneliness of her magical prison, a single voice whispered to her in the darkness. It was faint, but real nonetheless. _Twilight..._

"Who's there?"

_Come to me._

"Not again." Twilight shut her eyes, hoping to mentally block out the voice.

_Come to me._

"It's not real. It's not real." She stood there, expecting the voice to call to her again, but she was left alone in silence.

When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the city. She found herself on a platform surrounded by marble walls and statues of ponies. At the opposite end of the platform, she could see a large mangled hand affixed to the floor and holding an object in its palm. Rather than ponder the reality of her situation, she felt herself being inexplicably drawn toward the hand. She walked toward it, staring at the hand with fear and wonderment. As she drew near, she could hear the sounds of screams growing louder with every step. Upon glancing down, she saw the blank faces of nameless ponies in the floor, screaming with terror and fright as if to warn her to stay away. With a creak, the hand opened once Twilight was close enough to claim her prize. Resting on the palm was a leather-bound book. There was no title, but on the cover was the rune of Mantarok.

She reached over and griped the book with her teeth. In an instant, her mind was flooded with images of other ponies and monsters. Flashes of millennia worth of knowledge were uploaded into her mind.

When she dropped the book, she was back in her force field prison as abruptly as an interrupted dream, but with her gift lying at her hooves. From touching the book, she was given all the knowledge of the history of the Ancients as well as knowledge of others who used the book...including Princess Luna. From this knowledge, wonder, fear, and doubt plagued Twilight's mind as she examined the new knowledge that was in her head. All at once, the gravity of her situation and the future of Equestria became clear because the book showed her the struggle equines had to face to fight the Darkness. It chronicled the stories and pain of all who used the Tome of Eternal Darkness.


	7. Creeping Horrors

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 7: Creeping Horrors

A skinless zombie snapped its teeth at Applejack, but with her powerful hind legs, she cleanly bucked the zombie's head off. She laughed triumphantly, but her laugh turned to a gasp as she saw a new head grow in its place. She gave another buck to the zombie's chest, knocking it onto its back.

Before she could finish it off, another one was already drawing too close. It lunged forward and bit Applejack on the shoulder.

"Ow! Let go of me!"

A blue haze of magic surrounded the zombie, and it was pried off, leaving small splotches of blood and a bite mark. The zombie thrashed against the pull of Rarity's magic like a cat grabbed by the scruff of its neck.

"This is disgusting," whined Rarity. Unable to use her magic offensively (she is more skilled at dress making than combat), all she could do was try to hold the zombies away from Applejack, but the zombies were moving too quickly and had no inhibitions as they were struck and magically repelled.

Rainbow flew into the crowd of green zombies. With a buck of her hooves, she sent one zombie flying into the others, knocking them down like bowling pins. Unfazed, the zombies got back onto their hooves.

"Oh, you want more, do you?" She charged toward another zombie, and smacked its head off with one blow. "Ha, how do you like...?" Before she could gloat some more, she was stunned to see that once the head was removed, a green phantom of a head remained.

As the zombie looked at Rainbow with its ghostly eyes, she cringed in pain as she felt the zombie work its will upon her. She kicked the zombie in the torso, knocking the creature over. She suddenly felt another psychic attack from a zombie. She spun around and smashed off a zombie's right front leg, but a green phantom limb took its place. That same phantom limb slashed at Rainbow. She cried out in pain, pressing a hoof to the blood oozing from her injury.

She glared at the zombies, but before her eyes, the monsters seemed distorted. Their bandaged skulls warped and stretched to horrific exaggerations. She shook her head, and the zombies returned to normal. Before she could ponder what she had seen, a zombie took a swing at her and she had to use her wings to repel herself away.

Fluttershy and Pinkie stood back, watching the fight.

"What are we going to do?" Fluttershy was in tears.

"Do you think they might like some candy?" suggested Pinkie, weakly.

Another zombie managed to bite down onto Applejack's shoulder, adding another mark to her growing number of injuries. She shed tears of pain as she ripped herself free from the zombie's jaws.

_I can't just sit here and watch,_ reasoned Fluttershy to herself. _I have to help._ Despite her fears, she charged toward another zombie advancing upon Applejack and smashed it in the head with a clumsy buck of her hind legs.

The zombie—much to Fluttershy's horror—exploded.

At first, she thought she had destroyed it, but as the zombie's remains collapsed, a thin creature slid out of it. Its body was just a layer of exposed muscle on bones. It was like a walking bird skeleton, but instead of wings, it had scythe-shaped blades that it held up like a praying mantis.

This creature was some how living inside the zombie...and it wanted a new home. It jumped onto Fluttershy, knocking her onto her back. She kept the monster off her with her hooves, but the creature slashed at her legs and chest, fighting to burrow its way inside.

Driven by blind fear and pure adrenaline, she opened her wings and rocked toward the ceiling. She smashed the creature against the ceiling, crushing it with a sickening crack like a bug. As the monster twisted violently in its death throes, she was so horrified by it, she dashed off, flying passed the zombies and down one of the paths in a blind escape.

Despite Fluttershy's brush with death, the others barely noticed as zombies surrounded them on all sides.

The zombies slowly closed the gap between them. Every eyeless stare was focused on the four remaining ponies.

Applejack gave another fruitless kick to a zombie. "It's no use. They're not going down. Rainbow, fly away and save yourself."

"I'm not abandoning you guys," said Rainbow.

Rarity and Pinkie huddled together, helpless to do any more than wait for the inevitable.

Applejack and Rainbow were pressed against Rarity and Pinkie with nowhere else to run. They were trapped. As Applejack prepared to go down fighting, the red zombies suddenly walked around her. As she watched them, she noticed the green zombies were also moving around them. Since the zombies were on two different factions, they were more interested in each other with robotic consistency.

Like rabid lions, the zombies clawed and bit each other. The clack of bone against bone echoed throughout the chamber as the walking dead fought each other. The red zombies clawed and scratched the green, leaving deep injuries and tearing off limbs. The green zombies fought just as fiercely, but their attacks did very little harm.

As soon as a path was clear, the ponies ran through, escaping the zombies.

"Is everyone okay," asked Applejack.

"Hey, where's Fluttershy?" asked Rainbow.

The group skidded to a halt.

Applejack's eyes darted every which way in panic. "Oh no, where could she have gone?"

"I saw her fly away through one of those doors," said Pnikie, pointing to the three exits.

"But which one?" asked Rarity.

"Uh, the middle one, I think."

Applejack took a nervous glance at the zombies, and saw that the red zombies had destroyed all but one green zombie. "I say we go for it before they come back to get us."

The ponies ran off down the middle hall, escaping the zombies and into whatever other terrors awaited them.

#

_I could have sworn I was dreaming. The stories I'd heard from eyewitness accounts and my own patients became clear once I read through the pages of that cursed book. Throughout the centuries, it had been passed down, traveling through time and even through alternate dimensions, leaving a trail of madness and hopelessness in its wake._

Twilight could inexplicably read the characters written within the Tome. She skimmed through the pages, briefly reading the various stories she could find. The entry she had been reading was from Dr. Lionheart herself. Although she did not read through the stories in depth, she felt like she knew each and everyone of them personally. She could see them in her mind as well as their thoughts and emotions as they used and read the Tome.

As she flipped through more pages, she found instructions on spell casting. According to the instructions, any pony could channel her energy through the book and cast spells from all four gods. She shivered as she remembered Luna's story of how she became Nightmare Moon.

She looked through its pages until she found a page with _Dispel Magic_ written on the top. The key to her escape lay before her, but should she use it?

_Will I become like Nightmare Moon? But there's no other way. If I'm fighting the Ancients, the only thing to do is fight fire with fire._

She closed her eyes and reluctantly channeled her power through the book. She felt a serge of power run through her shin as three red glowing runes materialized around her.

_Nethlek...Redgormor...Chattur'gha._

The spell was released, and the force field vanished. Without further ceremony, she stuffed the Tome into her saddlebags, and teleported back to the rendezvous point with a flash of purple light.

"Hello, are you guys here?" Twilight called after she materialized, but no one responded. All was quiet and still within the city. "They must have gone out looking for me." She retraced her steps back to the chamber. As she approached the stairs, she noticed multiple hoof prints in the dirty floors. Knowing it was her friends, she ran down the steps, careless of what she might find. As she entered the chamber again, she noticed four dark figures in the hallway leading out of the room.

"Hey guys, it's me," she called out. She stopped in her tracks upon seeing not her friends, but a group of zombies slowly lumbering into the light.

Without hesitation, Twilight dropped the Tome onto the ground, hastily flipped through its pages, and found a magical attack spell.

_Antorbok...Pargon...Redgormor...Ulyaoth...Pargon._

Bolts of blue magical energy shot forth and struck the zombies. The walking dead let out hoarse moans as they all collapsed to the ground, their life forces thoroughly destroyed by the spell. As soon as the spell was finished, she stumbled as a mild exhaustion overtook her. _It seems that summoning a five-rune circle drained more energy than the three-rune circle. I need to be careful not to over use the spells._

#

Fluttershy did not know how long she had been flying. It was not until she stopped to catch her breath did she realize that she had abandoned her friends. However, after flying randomly through the twisting labyrinth of passages, she realized that finding her way out was more difficult than she thought. The maze led to various rooms, each one containing murals depicting stories from the distant past. Eventually, she found her way into a large chamber, decorated not by paintings but by metalwork. Like a web of wires and pipes, the walls were lined with various contraptions and pillars that curved and twisted toward the large metallic structures around the room. The whole room was more like a metallurgist's art show since everything seemed to be constructed for a gothic visual flair as oppose to practicality. Every machine was built to serve an unknown purpose.

"I'm lost." As Fluttershy gazed up at the structures before her, her fear changed into a solemn hopelessness. She leaned against the cold skin of a metal obelisk, withdrawing a first aid kit from her saddlebags to wrap up her cuts. As she treated her injuries, she shook with fright at the memory of the monster who caused them. Thinking of how close its snapping jaws and blade-like appendages were to her face haunted her thoughts, causing tears of fright to well up in her eyes. "I should've stayed home. This is too much for me."

As she placed her first aid kit into her bag, she noticed something on the floor. It was the rim of a hat. Curious, she leaned over, and realized that the hat was still attached to a head. Leaning in further and she saw that the head was part of a pony skeleton.

"Eep," squeaked Fluttershy as she dodged out of sight. When nothing happened, she leaned over again, getting a good long look at the pile of bones. The pony skeleton still had its glasses and vest on as well as an old saddlebag, all of it was rotted and dirty like the remains.

As she stared at the body, a wisp of pale smoke materialized beside it. She shuttered in fright as the mist twisted into shape. Before long, she came face to face with the spirit of a mare.

Perhaps seeing zombies beforehand desensitized Fluttershy because upon seeing the ghost, she only stood in frozen awe and shock rather than running.

The ghost pointed a hoof at the saddlebag on the skeleton. She repeatedly gestured at the bag, drawing Fluttershy's gaze to a name written on it.

She reluctantly leaned over and saw on the saddlebag the name _Dr. Lionheart_ written on the front in fading ink. She looked at the ghost, and stared with her mouth agape as she finally understood. "Are you Dr. Lionheart?"

The ghost nodded.

Setting aside her disbelief that ghosts exist, Fluttershy nervously blurted out, "D-Do you know how to stop the Eternal Darkness?"

Dr. Lionheart abruptly glided over to a plaque on the metal wall with the illustration of the four runes of the Ancients drawn upon it. The runes of Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth, and Xel'lotath were arranged in an intertwined triangle with the Mantarok rune in the center.

"Those are the Ancients Twilight told me about," said Fluttershy, remembering the drawings the unicorn had shown her and the others before leaving Ponyville. "Twilight also told me that the blue, green, and red Ancients have strengths and weaknesses against each other, but who is the purple one strong against?"

Dr. Lionheart ran a hoof along the Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth, and Xel'lotath runes in the triangle.

"And who can beat him?"

Dr. Lionheart pointed at the rune in the center of the triangle.

Fluttershy wanted to ask more questions but froze. Her equine ears twitched as she heard something gliding behind her.

#

Within the winding and twisting labyrinth, Twilight repeatedly glanced behind her shoulder even though she was clearly alone. She tried to ignore it. She tried to tell herself that the sensations were all in her head, but with every step, the presence she felt grew stronger. She was not alone, that much she was certain of.

As she entered another chamber, she suppressed a gasp of disgust as she discovered a room full of pony skeletons. It was a sacrificial room. Each sacrifice after death had been neatly hung on the walls by ropes and after centuries, the bodies disassembled from rot, leaving the bones piled on the floor save for a few that somehow remained on the bonds.

One skeleton was left on an altar with the ropes still binding the pony's legs and forcing the victim onto his or her back. As Twilight stepped in for a closer look, she noticed a cleanly cut hole in the pony's ribcage. What disturbed her the most was not the manner of the execution, but the skeletons themselves. Each one was quite small. The one on the altar could not have been older than a year or two. She felt her stomach wrench with disgust as she remembered Celestia telling her how the occultists of the past used to sacrifice foals to their god.

As her mind drifted to the memory of the pictures in the secret room, she heard the voice again.

_Twilight..._

"No, I'm not listening. I will not let the horrors of the past come again. No matter what, we will stop it." Twilight spoke with as much conviction as she could muster, but tears were welling up in her eyes, betraying her fears.

The room Twilight stood in seemed to melt away before her eyes. She was taken from the room of reality and into the nightmare world. Every color seemed bright and nondescript to the point where all objects in the room seemed blurred like a foal's attempt at watercolor paints. In the room, she saw three ponies. Their features were blurred and indistinct like the ethereal background. The ponies were approaching what appeared to be statuettes of some kind, the only objects in the room that were clear enough to make out. One was a red crustacean claw. The second was an otherworldly and angular octopus. And the third was an angelic black figure with a green gem in the center.

Twilight knew (how she knew she could not determine) that the objects were the essences of the other Ancients. She watched as the three faceless ponies reached for the essences, and upon contact, bright lights of green, blue, and red filled the room. As the light died down, the three ponies took on the color scheme of the essences. Like letters printed on paper, three runes appeared on the ponys' flanks.

The hallucination ended as abruptly as it began, leaving her alone in the room of death.

Twilight's ears perked up as she heard footfalls from the entrance. She was alert, but cautious. _It could be a hallucination._ Next to the piles of bones, she spotted what appeared to be a pike, free of rust thanks to the dry air of the abandoned city. She telekinetically picked up the pike. As soon as a figure walked into the light, she blindly hurled the pike, but missed and hit the metal walls with a resounding clang.

When she finally looked upon her intruder, she saw Rainbow Dash looking at her in stunned disbelief.

"It's a good thing your aim is so bad," said Rainbow with nervous sarcasm.

Twilight ran up to the pegasus and gave her an apologetic and relieved hug. "I'm so sorry, I thought you were a zombie."

"Well, we weren't there yet, but we were certainly close," said Applejack as she came out of the darkness followed by Rarity and Pinkie.

"What happened to you?" Twilight was eyeing the bandages that were hastily wrapped around Applejack's injuries.

"It's nuthin' but a few scrapes."

"I'm sorry if the bandages don't look so good," said Rarity. "I did the best I could."

Pinkie was hopping on her hooves with excitement. "It's a good thing we found you, Twilight. Where were you?"

"I was looking through a chamber when..." Twilight looked amongst the group with concern. "Where's Fluttershy?"

"We can't find her anywhere," said Rainbow as she examined the pike with curiosity.

"Then we better hurry up and find her." Twilight pushed passed her friends. "We don't have much time."

The ponies spun around and ran out down the hall, only to halt when they saw Rainbow holding back.

"Rainbow, come on," ordered Twilight.

Rainbow was hastily tying the pike to her saddlebags. "After what we've seen, we'll need all the weapons we can get."

#

They wondered the labyrinth, growing increasingly urgent with every passing minute.

"Fluttershy, where are ya?" shouted Applejack. The bandages chaffed her skin, but she ignored her discomfort, marching ahead of the group.

"Applejack, will you slow down," panted Rarity.

Pinkie was skipping merrily as if she was off to the candy store. "But where's the fun in slowing down?"

"Pinkie, how can you be so cheerful when Fluttershy could be in terrible danger?"

"Well, when life has you scared, you must 'giggle at the ghostly. Guffaw at the grossly.'"

"This is not a good time to be singing."

"I don't know," interjected Twilight as she followed behind Pinkie. "We could use all the cheer we can get."

As they talked, they were unaware of the strange behavior exhibited by Rainbow who lazily trailed behind all of them.

Rainbow was fidgeting with paranoid glances from side to side. Although she maintained a brave face, she was unnerved by cries and screams echoing along the walls. Disembodied voices let out shrieks and cries, all of which only she could hear. She shook her head in shock as she thought she saw blood oozing from the walls.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" asked Twilight as she noticed the pegasus's strange behavior.

"Of course," she said with a defensive tone in her voice. "I'm not scared at all. It's just that—" She froze, her eyes as wide as saucers.

Twilight glanced forward and noticed that the whole campaign had stopped to witness a wisp of spiritual light materialize before them.

The five friends grouped themselves together with anxious anticipation. Although they all imagined monsters and the walking dead, once the energy took on a solid form, what they saw instead was the transparent body of Dr. Lionheart.

"Ack, a ghost," shouted Applejack.

Twilight gasped in realization. "Wait, you guys. I know this ghost." Ignoring her friends' disbelieving mutterings, she hastily approached the ghost. "Dr. Lionheart, is that really you?"

The doctor nodded.

"Isn't that the name of the doctor you saw in your dreams?" asked Rarity.

"She is," said Twilight. "She looks exactly the way she did in my dreams."

Pinkie bounced with joy. "Oh, if she's here, can she help us find Fluttershy?"

The ghost nodded again. She turned around and beckoned them to follow with a sway of her head.

Hesitant at first, the group followed the apparition down the halls of the labyrinth. After all the horrors they had witnessed that day, the idea of trusting a ghost weighed heavily on their suspicions, even for Twilight. With no other option, they followed it into the unknown. As Dr. Lionheart turned a corner and into another room, she vanished without warning.

"Dr. Lionheart, where are you?" asked Twilight, but got no response.

They entered the room, and found a place full of technological marvels. They did not spend much time examining it all because right there in the room was Fluttershy, her hindquarters seated firmly on the floor and her back toward her friends.

"Oh, thank Celestia you're safe," said Rarity as she galloped toward her.

"Stay away!" order Fluttershy, not moving from her spot.

"What in tarnation is wrong with you?" asked Applejack.

Fluttershy's muscles fidgeted as if she was trying to force her way free from invisible chains. "I can't move."

As Twilight watched the way Fluttershy resisted, she was suddenly reminded of the binding spell Tarik placed on her.

The ponies let out an abrupt cry of alarm as they heard an incantation from the darkness. They scattered as they dodged a bolt of blue magical energy as it struck the ground where they had been standing.

From out of the shadows, a creature loomed into the light. It resembled a large squid but it hovered off the floor with tis tentacles dangling useless under it. Its body was blue and translucent like as jellyfish. It let out a low hiss in challenge.

"What is that thing?" asked Rainbow.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look friendly," said Applejack.

"I say we kick its butt. There's five of us and only one of it. We got the numbers on our side."

The squid waved its tentacles and five blue runes suddenly appeared under it.

_Tier...Pargon...Aretak...Ulyaoth...Pargon._

From out of the floor, six zombies began to materialize. The zombies looked like they were made of opaque blue ectoplasm. They let out deep moans as they were animated, hungry for blood.

"Do you still think we can take it, RD?" said Applejack, sarcastically.

Rainbow only let out a frustrated sigh.


	8. The Guardian

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 8: The Guardian

Twilight's analytical mind was working as she examined the situation. Despite all her fears and inhibitions, her mind easily calculated a plan.

Rarity was gawking at the zombies, staring every which way as if considering a blind escape. "What're we going to do?"

"Every pony, stand back." Twilight whipped out the Tome of Eternal Darkness from her saddlebag, and dropped the book onto the floor. Before her friends could ask what she was doing, she telekinetically flipped through the pages and found the magical attack spell.

Her friends gasped in surprise as they saw five green runes appear around Twilight.

_Antorbok...Pargon..._

As Twilight's five-rune spell was being cast, the monster immediately countered with a three-rune magical attack spell.

_Redgormor...Xel'lotath...Par—_

Twilight's spell was interrupted with a screech of green sparks once she was hit by the monster's offensive spell. She let out a scream as the spell lacerated her skin, leaving shallow cuts. She struggled to stay on her hooves as pain and nausea threatened to overtake her.

Rarity telekinetically withdrew some cloth as she tried to clean off the blood dripping from Twilight's injuries.

"What in tarnation did ya do?" asked Applejack.

Twilight stood on her wobbly legs, feeling drained from her failed spell-casting attempt. "This book gives me access to the Ancients' spells." She was snapped out of her stupor when she noticed the zombies approaching Fluttershy. "Pinkie, Rarity, I want you two to lure the zombies away from Fluttershy."

"What?" interjected Rarity. "But how can we..."

Before Rarity could finish her question, Pinkie charged toward the zombies with Rarity following close behind (after a second of hesitation).

"HIIIIYAAAA!" shouted Pinkie as she kicked a zombie in the chest with a clumsy buck of her hind legs. "Come on, you undead doo doo heads." She proceeded to make goofy faces, taunting the zombies.

Rarity countered by magically repelling a zombie.

Like mindless drones, the zombies immediately turned toward the new threat. They did not move quickly, allowing Pinkie and Rarity to get away, but there was not far to escape to.

Twilight watched Rarity and Pinkie with concern. "This is bad, I can't use a spell higher than three runes without getting hit. I need a distraction. Rainbow, Applejack, I need you two to go over and distract the monster."

"I'm on it." Rainbow rocketed toward the monster with Applejack close behind.

As Rainbow approached, the monster summoned a three-rune spell. _Antorbok...Redgor—_ Thanks to Rainbow's trusty speed, she struck the monster in the head, interrupting the spell.

The monster, rather than counterattack, vanished. In its place was a glowing blue will-o'-wisp hovering off to the other side of the room.

Rainbow watched the glowing ball of light float away. "Hey, come back here!"

Applejack halted her pursuit when she heard a scream. The scream came from Rarity who she and Pinkie were trapped in a corner as the zombies ganged up on them.

"Hang on." The farming pony charged and dove head first into the crowd of zombies, bucking them with all the strength as she could muster.

Pinkie also dove right in, fighting to clear a path. Although her pink coat was growing stained in red, she fought on with a desperate ferocity.

While all that was going on, Twilight sat next to Fluttershy as she searched the Tome for the right spell.

_Nethlek...Pargon...Redgormor...Xel'lotath...Pargon ._

In an instant, Fluttershy was freed. Once she regained control of her muscles, she stood there, shaking. Cold sweat dripped from her head.

"Are you all right?" asked Twilight.

Fluttershy only slowly nodded her head.

"Come on, we need to get...Oh no!" Twilight saw the sphere of light hovering in front of the only exit. The monster rematerialized from the sphere, blocking escape.

Rainbow, who had been chasing the monster, dive-bombed toward it. "You're not getting away this time." The monster lifted its eyes upon its attacker, and Rainbow felt another psychic intrusion. She convulsed wildly as she crashed belly first against the metal floor with a metallic thud. She tried to pry herself up, but the monster entered deep into her subconscious, eating away at her sanity.

#

Rainbow opened her eyes, and saw herself in a dark basement. She tried to move, but her hooves had been strapped to a brick wall. As she looked around the room, all she could see was a few tables placed nearby. Each one had a number of tools lying on it, mostly cutting instruments, and all of it caked in blood. On another table, she could see what appeared to be muffin tins and mixing bowls, all of it just as unwashed as everything else. "Where am I?"

"You're in my kitchen," croaked a voice from the darkness. Into the dim light, Pinkie emerged, but she was shriveled like an old mare. Her pupils were large and dilated, giving her an alien stare. Her hooves were all covered in dried blood.

"Pinkie, what's going on here?" asked Rainbow, her voice shaking with fright.

Pinkie got up on her hind legs. Her muzzle nuzzled Rainbow's ear as she said, "You're going to help me."

"Help you with what."

She ran her tongue seductively over her prisoner's ear. "You're going to help me make some...cupcakes..."

Pinkie leaned over to the table and gripped a knife with her teeth.

Rainbow was panting with fright. "No, wait." She let out a scream as Pinkie sank the blade into her abdomen. She shrieked and squirmed in agony as Pinkie slowly made the incision, gutting her like a fish.

#

"Rainbow, what's wrong?" asked Twilight.

The blue pegasus was lying at the foot of the monster, convulsing and sobbing as she felt pain that was not there.

Without anyone to stop it, the monster casted a spell.

_Bankorok...Pargon...Redgormor..._

Twilight flipped through the pages of the Tome, but she could not find the magical attack spell fast enough.

_Pargon...Pargon...Ulyaoth...Pargon._

A force field was erected by the runes, creating a barrier and preventing escape.

Meanwhile, Pinkie and Rarity had managed to force their way passed the zombies—receiving more slashes for their troubles—but Applejack was still surrounded, furiously bucking and kicking each zombie. More sweat and blood stained her orange coat with every bite and cut.

As Applejack bucked off the head of a zombie, it suddenly began to glow. Without any other provocation, all of the zombies got up onto their hind legs and energy coursed through their chests like a web of an electrical current. She stared at the odd sight as the zombies convulsed and shook.

Twilight watched the zombies with alarm. "No, get out of there...!"

The zombies exploded. Waves of magical energy rocked the air itself like a noiseless sonic boom. As quickly as it happened, the blast disappeared along with the zombies. On the floor lay Applejack. She was on her side unconscious as blood pooled around her.

"APPLEJACK!" Rarity ran toward her friend, withdrawing more bandages from her saddlebag and hastily tried to the stop the bleeding, but Applejack's breathing and heartbeats were slowing, threatening to stop permanently.

Twilight could only watch in disbelief. One friend was dying before her eyes. Another was lying on the floor trapped in a nightmare. The monster hovered at the exit, ensuring that they cannot escape. She suddenly remembered the Elements of Harmony she had in her bag, but with Rainbow and Applejack out of commission, the Elements were useless.

Just as Twilight was going to cry out in despair, Dr. Lionheart appeared beside her. The ghost waved for her to follow.

"Everyone, follow Dr. Lionheart!" Twilight called out. "I'll take care of Rainbow and Applejack." As the others fled, she telekinetically lifted Applejack and Rainbow as she ran, dodging another magical attack spell from the monster.

The ponies followed the ghost, weaving around the various contraptions until they stopped at the end of the room. They anxiously watched Dr. Lionheart as she pointed at a plate faceted to the floor.

"What could that be?" asked Rarity as she panted from exertion and adrenaline.

Twilight gawked with understanding. "I've seen one of these. It's a transporter of some kind." Her mane suddenly stood on end as she heard the monster cast a summoning spell. She knew company was coming.

Dr. Lionheart directed their attention to a floor-bound wheel next to the teleporter. It had odd symbols engraved on it, symbols that Twilight could not read. Dr. Lionheart ran her hooves along the face of the wheel. Following her example, Twilight moved the wheel into position. Once she got the wheel in the position indicated, she cried out, "Everyone, get onto the plate."

Despite their confusion, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity got onto the plate without question and vanished in a flash of yellow light.

Once Twilight heard the sounds of moaning zombies approaching, she placed her two unconscious companions onto the plate allowing them to escape. As she stepped onto the plate and teleported away, for the briefest of seconds, she caught a glimpse of zombie coming around the corner.

#

Twilight reappeared into another room, the sudden change of venue baffled her already fatigued mind. Next to the plate, she saw Applejack lying on the ground looking pale and still. Fluttershy was pressing her hooves against Applejack's chest in a desperate attempt to resuscitate her.

She telekinetically pulled the Tome of Eternal Darkness out of her saddlebag and flipped through its pages, finding the spell she needed.

_Narokath...Pargon...Aretak...Pargon...Pargon...Cha ttur'gha...Pargon._

The energy of the spell wrapped itself around Applejack and before their eyes, her injuries and spilt blood disappeared as if time was reversing. When the spell was complete, she was only left with a few minor cuts.

Twilight released her telekinetic hold on the book, suddenly feeling too tired to keep it aloft magically.

For a tense minute, the group watched Applejack, waiting for any sign of life. There was a collective sigh of relief as Applejack's eyes opened.

Applejack let out a groan as she put a hoof to her head, nursing a headache. "W-What happened?"

She was suddenly strangled with affection as Fluttershy held her up in a relieved hug.

"Oh thank goodness. We thought we lost you."

"Fluttershy, you're crushing me."

Twilight, sweating profusely and shaking from exhaustion, walked over to Rainbow. Who was lying on the ground, shivering with fright and staring off at the ceiling with a glazed eyed stare.

Twilight conjured another spell, this time with green runes instead of red.

_Narokath...Pargon...Aretak...Pargon...Pargon...Xel 'lotath...Pargon._

Much like with Applejack, the spell surrounded and enveloped Rainbow. As the spell was cast, she stopped shaking and began to regain consciousness.

Rainbow dozily opened her eyes to see Pinkie staring down upon her. "Ahh, get away from me!" She backed away from Pinkie as if she had the plague.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Pinkie.

Rainbow calmed down as she regained her senses. "Oh...I'm sorry."

Twilight did not hear what happened next because the fatigue of using two seven-rune spells took its toll. Before she even hit the ground, she was asleep like the dead.

#

When Twilight opened her eyes, she saw Fluttershy standing over her, lovingly wrapping the bandages around Twilight's injuries.

"Are you all right?" asked the yellow pegasus.

"Yes. I'm sorry, those spells drain a lot of my strength."

She looked around the room and saw the others also wrapped in bandages. Although none of them were seriously injured, the sight of them bruised and cut left a painful lump in Twilight's stomach. She saw the Tome lying beside her, and she angrily shoved it aside.

Fluttershy noticed and said, "It's not your fault."

"I know, but why do I feel this way? We're fighting against such terrible monsters, and we can't even defeat one of them."

"We're still alive, and that's all that matters."

"But I failed every pony."

"I know how you feel. When those zombies attacked us while we were looking for you, I...panicked and abandoned every pony only to get myself captured. I-It's all my fault we got into this mess."

Twilight sat up and noticed the tears sliding down Fluttershy's stern face. She opened her mouth, about to say something encouraging to the pegasus, but nothing escaped her lips.

Without any introduction, Dr. Lionheart appeared before them.

"Dr. Lionheart, thank you for saving us." Twilight stared at the ghost as she started waving her hoof with urgency. "You want us to follow?"

The ghost vigorously nodded her head. Her eyes showed fear and panic.

Twilight reluctantly pulled herself onto all four legs. She placed the Tomb back into her saddlebag, and followed the ghost with her friends following close behind, now fully trusting of their spectral companion. No one asked questions. They knew something serious was going on.

As they walked, Twilight took a first look at the room she was in. It appeared to be a hall, but rather than metal, the walls were made of stone that was crumbling and broken, revealing exposed earth. The party wondered down the hall and into the next room. As they entered, Dr. Lionheart vanished again. The ponies found themselves in a brightly lit chamber, a chamber whose inhabitant quickly caught their attention.

Fluttershy let out a shriek as she saw the abomination. It was a pulpous mass of eyes and mouths. The creature groaned as its massive body pulsed with every breath.

"Mantarok," whispered Twilight. It was just as hideous as its portraits depicted it.

The ponies were so transfixed by the deity before them, it took them a while before they noticed the three artifacts—located in front of the Corpse God—and the ponies guarding them. Twilight immediately recognized the objects as the other three Essences she saw from her vision. The Essences were all levitating off of pedestals, looming with the power they possess. Guarding the artifacts was Tarik who stood as still as a gargoyle. Before him was Abdullah, standing in a face off position.

"Is that Tarik and Abdullah?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, and those are the Essences to the other Ancients," said Twilight.

"But why are they standing there?" asked Rarity.

"I think they're waiting for Mert."

The two cursed ponies did not respond to Twilight and her friends. They just stood there in calm silence.

Suddenly, Abdullah snapped in attention like a tiger hearing prey. "She's here." He charged off to the side and struck an invisible object out of the air.

Mert's invisibility deactivated as soon as she hit the ground.

The bell jar containing the Essence of Mantarok shattered into pieces against the stone floor.

Abdullah charged toward the heart, but Tarik held him back telekinetically.

Tarik teleported beside the heart, but before he could grab it, Mert exerted her will upon his mind, paralyzing him.

Twilight stared at the fight, remembering what had happened when they all went ever her. "All right, girls, now's our chance." She withdrew the Elements of Harmony and handed them out to their respective owners.

The ponies put on the Elements.

"All right, let's do this," shouted Rainbow.

Twilight's eyes began to glow as magic from the Elements of Harmony coursed through her body. The party levitated off the ground as the spell was activated.

The three cursed ponies did not even pay attention to them, too busy fighting each other for control over the heart. The only force that stopped the fight was when a rainbow of light came down upon them. The magic of friendship coursed through their bodies, causing them to stand paralyzed as they were all frozen into stone. Once the spell was complete, the three ponies were petrified and harmless.

The ponies took a few seconds to check if they were victorious before they relaxed.

"Yes, we did it," cheered Rainbow, breaking the silence. "That was for the princesses."

Rainbow's joy quickly turned to horror as Abdullah suddenly shattered his stone prison. With a shake of his body, he shrugged off the stone fragments.

Rainbow's mouth hung agape. "No way!"

Blue flames engulfed Tarik's stone shell, burning it away as if it was made of paper.

Mert's stone body dissolved into dust, freeing her as well.

As if nothing had happened, the three ponies resumed their fight over the heart, which lay on the floor, awaiting its next captor.

"What do we do now?" asked Fluttershy.

Twilight could only peer out in utter shock. With the Elements useless, she slid off her crown, numb with grief. Her eyes wondered toward the heart, its incessant beating drawing her gaze toward it. As she looked at the heart, her mind raced for ideas. She telekinetically pulled out the Tome and ran through its pages. Desperate for something to gain her an edge, a wild idea popped into her head. With her horn glowing brightly, she teleported and reappeared beside the heart. With the Tome open, she accessed a spell. This time, she drew from the power of Mantarok. Dark purple runes appeared around her and a sinister whisper of a voice spoke the incantation.

_Bankorok...Redgormor...Mantarok._

A purple force field materialized around her, maintained by the runes.

Finally paying attention to Twilight, the three cursed ponies halted their assault and gathered around the field, glaring at the unicorn with cold and murderous intent.

Mert's telepathic voice echoed in Twilight's mind. "_Curse her. Curse her. Trap her in nightmares. You should not have interfered._"

The ponies struck the field with their hooves. The force field kept them away, but since the field was at such a low level, it was only a matter of time before they would break through.

Twilight's mind raced with desperation. Because of how sporadic her plan was, she had no idea as to what to do next. She could teleport, but Tarik would easily know wherever she teleported to and follow. Not to mention she was still tired and just casting that force field drained what little energy she had left. She was trapped and had no way to escape.

_I could help you fight them._

Twilight ignored the voice as best she could, but it was louder and more oppressive now that she was next to the heart.

_Only through me can you defeat them. Only through me can you help your friends._

If Twilight's resolve had been stronger, she would have gladly died than accept. But her mind was addled with fear and dementia. Emotions of sadness overrode her rational mind. She leaned over and as soon as the force field vanished...she bit down on the heart.

A wave of Mantarok's power channeled through Twilight's body, mingling with her own and expelling out in a flash of unholy light. Her saddlebags and bandages were burned off her body and collected around her in a singed heap.

The three cursed ponies backed away in surprise as evil magic coursed through the unicorn, corrupting her body and soul.

Once the magic faded away, Twilight stood there, but she was not the same. Her mane and tail now waved like fire. Her face was skull-like, every bone more prominent and pointed. Imbedded deep into those hollow eye sockets were glowing orbs of bright purple light. Her lips were peeled back, exposing her teeth into a skeletal grin. The star-shaped Cutie Mark on her flank was gone. In its place was the rune of Mantarok.

In a deep voice, Twilight said, "Now Mantarok shall bring the Eternal Darkness to Equestria."


	9. The Revenge of the Corpse God

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 9: The Revenge of the Corpse God

Among Twilight's friends, there was a dead silence of shock and horror. In an instant, their friend was gone and replaced with the monstrosity before them. Although no words were spoken, Applejack shared a worried glance with Rainbow who seemed visibly shaken by what had happened. She could also see Rarity and Pinkie huddled together and on the verge of tears. Fluttershy stood behind, quietly sobbing, too afraid to look at Twilight.

The other three cursed ponies were not the least bit surprised, or else they were very adept at hiding it.

Tarik was even chuckling as if he heard a joke. "Mantarok will bring about the Eternal Darkness? You're master has no power over us anymore. Mantarok's own magic powers the binding spell that holds him in place."

"And your master is dying and weak," said Abdullah. "Even the power of the Essence you protect has waned. Try as you might, but I'll easily smash you to dust." He pawed the ground like an angry bull before charging at Twilight.

The air around Twilight's horn seemed to vibrate with power. She forced Abdullah away with ease, her magic easily repelling him like a piece of paper caught in the wind.

He dug his hooves into the eroded floor, but his efforts were fruitless. By the time he was freed of Twilight's hold, he scoffed with irritation as he got back on his hooves.

"You silly little foals," mocked Twilight, "did you really think that my master would not have a plan to escape his bonds? It was only by his doing that you three escaped."

"_We don't believe you_. _She lies._"

Tarik seemed to chuckle as if he heard a silly joke. "I fail to see the reason for why he would attempt such an asinine action."

"Mantarok had been planning his escape for millennia. Although the binding spell and his waning power prevented him from directly destroying you, he was able to manipulate fate to serve his needs. His plan began a thousand years ago when he gave the Tome to Princess Luna. As my master predicted, Luna would be corrupted by the power of the Ancients and be banished to the moon. That way, after a thousand years, she would use the stars' power to escape the moon. In her escape, she would accidently set off a chain of cosmic energy. It was a domino effect where energy built from the stars and with what little power Mantarok had, he directed it so that it would dispel your bonds."

"But why?' demanded Abdullah.

"Mortals can be useful if you took the time to observe. Mantarok knew that one day, some pony with the power to use the Element of Magic would stop Princess Luna. He set about arranging so that you three would be freed and I would be forced to intervene. Up until this time, everything was going according to his plan. He manipulated Dr. Lionheart into building the secret room. He arranged it so Dr. Lionheart would obtain his Essence. And he made sure that I would move into the library and obtain the Elements of Harmony. He did all that, just to get to me."

Tarik was cackling hysterically. "The Elements of Harmony? Those artifacts were not forged by Ancient magic. What can a mere child's toy do to us?"

"By possessing the Element of Magic, my power was great, but through me, I can enhance my master's power tenfold, more than enough to destroy you three once and for all."

"Talk all you will, but you are neither powerful nor knowledgeable in comparison to us," said Tarik.

Twilight's eyes glowed with sinister intent. "Then perhaps you need a demonstration."

Tarik cried out in pain, shaking violently like an epileptic. He tried to retaliate against Twilight's psychic assault, but his mind was flooded with horrid visions. Like a cancer, Twilight's psychic energies ate at his brain. Every mental capacity he had was burned away. Tarik, losing the knowledge necessary for standing, toppled over, shaking on the ground. Slowly, his convulses slowed to a stop, and he was left on the floor, his mind blank and dead.

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Abdullah charge for the Essence of Mantarok. With a flick of her head, she telekinetically shoved Abdullah aside.

Abdullah clawed at the ground as he physically fought the magical energies. "Damn you, let me go!" He could not break free and his hooves were scratching deep holes in the solid rock floors.

"You really are just a wild animal."

A bolt of magical energy shot from Twilight's horn, burning a superficial hole in his chest.

He easily shrugged off the pain and healed his injuries in seconds. "Is that all you can do?"

Twilight's horn glowed a startling purple as she summoned matching hued runes around her.

_Antorbok...Pargon...Aretak...Pargon...Pargon...Mantarok...Pargon._

He keeled over in pain as Twilight's spell took effect. "What's happening...?" He could feel a warm energy coursing through his chest. Without further warning, he spontaneously combusted into a haze of purple flames. He let out a shriek as he was incinerated, thrashing and rolling along the ground, but the flames were not real fire, rather concentrated wisps of pure magic. Despite Abdullah's rejuvenation, he could not fight back the flames as it ate through his flesh in seconds. With the moan of a dying breath, he toppled to the floor and was reduced to a pile of black ash.

Once Abdullah was dead, Mert only stood aside, watching Twilight, contemplating her options.

It was during this silence that the five ponies begin to feel the gravity of what they were witnessing.

"I-I don't believe it," said Applejack. "She killed them both without breaking a sweat."

"Why is she doing this?" whimpered Fluttershy.

"She's not the Twilight we know anymore," said Rarity, glumly.

Pinkie's mouth opened and closed, hoping some encouraging words would spill out from her mouth, but she only got empty silence.

Mert's telepathic voice echoed throughout everyone's minds. "_You can't defeat me. Strong of mind. Your body is weak. Strong of magic. Destroy me, you may. Flimsy limbs can't hurt me._"

Rather than speak, Twilight responded with another spell.

_Tier...Magormor...Mantarok._

From out of the floor and surrounded in a halo of magic, a staff materialized beside Twilight. Naturally, it was not a normal weapon. The staff was made of bones, the spine bones of a pony to be exact, each piece anatomically pieced together with the hipbones prominent on one end. Twilight clutched the weapon with her teeth like a wolf clutching its prey. With her weapon at hand, she teleported out of sight.

Mert's mind reached out, but Twilight was nowhere to be sensed.

With a flash of magic, Twilight appeared beside Mert and swung the staff like a bat. She hit her square in the face, knocking her over and cracking the bone in her jaw.

Upon impact, the staff and Mert let out a sudden flash of purple. Whatever the weapon was, it was enhanced with Mantarok's magic.

Mert opened her wings, but Twilight struck her in the left wing. With a loud crack, the bone in her wing snapped in two, but she showed no expression of pain on her face.

Twilight swung the staff again, hitting Mert in the leg, snapping another bone.

With her remaining legs, Mert hopped away from her attacker, but Twilight lunged again, thrusting the staff into Mert's heart.

Mert tried to break free, but she convulsed as Mantarok's power coursed through her body. Although her life was fading, her face remained taciturn. The magic was tearing at her, atom by atom, until she erupted in a shower of red liquid and magic. All that was left of her was a mangled mess.

"Twilight!" shouted Fluttershy, sobbing hysterically at the vicious murder she had witnessed.

There was no response from Twilight. With rivals gone, she turned to the other three Essences, now sitting vulnerable with no one to protect them.

"And now, there will be no one to stand in the way of Mantarok's rightful ascension." She placed a hoof upon the Essence of Mantarok, and felt the heart feeding her with power. Her horn glowed a brilliant light of energy and seven runes appeared around her.

_Antorbok...Pargon...Redgormor...Pargon...Pargon...Mantarok...Pargon._

Bolts of purple energy shot toward the Essences, hitting them simultaneously. Each of the artifacts began to crack and split, unleashing a rainbow of color as the magic left them. With an echoed scream from some place not of this world, the artifacts exploded in a shower of sparks and heat-blackened debris. With the Essences gone, the Ancients' connection to the Material Plane was permanently severed, leaving Mantarok the unchallenged holder of Equestria's fate.

Twilight telekinetically picked up the staff and Essence of Mantarok and approached her master. She walked up to the pedestals, and placed the heart onto the center one. She bowed to the death god and said, "And now, Master, the world awaits your glorious return."

Her horn illuminated the room, surging with divine power. Using the energy of the heart, she conjured a circle of power around her. She stared at the five pillars impaled into Mantarok's flesh. Twilight knew that the binding spell that kept her master in his tomb was strong, but not invulnerable. With a deep moan of pleasure, she started the spell.

_Nethlek...Pargon...Redgormor...Pargon...Pargon... Mantarok...Pargon._

The spell shot a bolt of energy that struck the first pillar causing it to crack. Independently of Twilight, the spell repeated itself, blasting another bolt, causing further damage to the pillars.

Twilight's friends watched with curiosity and dread.

"What's happening?" asked Fluttershy.

"I don't know, but I think she's trying to free that god," said Applejack.

"Oh this is awful," cried Rarity. "What can we do?"

"I reckon if we destroy that heart, we can destroy Mantarok."

Rainbow leaped out in front of Applejack as if she was physically challenging her. "Uh huh, and how are we supposed to do that?"

Applejack put a hoof to her chin in thought. She was not the kind of pony who could come up with a strategy quickly. As her mind raced for an idea, she suddenly noticed the pike that was still strapped to Rainbow's saddlebags. Like lightening, she was struck with an idea. "Pinkie, do you still have that disk you found?"

"You mean this?" Pinkie withdrew the large metal disk with the hole in the center.

Applejack stared at the disk and the pike. When her eyes glanced at the Tome of Eternal Darkness lying on the ground not far away, and she said, "I have an idea."

#

As the first pillar dissolved into dust, the spell worked on the next one. Mantarok was already hissing with anticipation as its bonds were slowly removed. Its collection of mouths snapped wildly, anticipating many souls to devour.

Twilight only stood and oversaw the spell at work. She might have felt excitement if she felt any emotion at all. Instead, she was cold like a corpse.

"Hey, Twilight," called out Applejack. "Look what I have."

Twilight turned around and saw her friends gathered from across the room, staring with twinges of agitation as they eyed Applejack.

Applejack had the Tome of Eternal Darkness propped in her arm as she flipped through the book's pages. "Ya know, this book is actually quite fascinating. In fact, it tells me all about those fancy doohickeys around this here city."

"You lie," said Twilight. "You're not a chosen one, so you can't read the writing in the Tome. Furthermore, what could you know that I would not?"

"If I couldn't read the book, then how do I know how to do this?" Applejack pulled out the disk. She began to spin the ring on its side, and like before, the ball of light began to appear at its center while it spun.

The sight of the spinning object piqued Twilight's interest. She was given all of Mantarok's knowledge of magic as well as the history of the Ancients, but she was not informed about the technology in the city. Despite her new undead body, her drive to knowledge was still there and she had to discover the secrets of that disk.

"How could this be?" she said.

Applejack gave Twilight a nervous smile. "If you want top learn more, you'll just have to get this book from me."

Twilight glared at Applejack with suspicion. "Put the book down and back off."

Applejack willfully complied, placing the Tome onto the floor and backed away.

As Twilight approached the Tomb, another pillar crumbled to pieces, leaving only three left.

She cautiously approached Applejack while telekinetically holding her staff, threatening to spear anyone who got too close. Once she was satisfied they were at a safe distance, she levitated the Tome to her face and flipped through the pages. Quietly, she searched, quickly becoming transfixed by the book's contents.

"It's working," whispered Applejack. The little farmer knew Twilight's habits well. In fact, it was only a few days ago when she had said to Twilight, _when ya have your nose in a book, nothing seems to distract ya_.

With Twilight fully engrossed in her reading, Applejack and Pinkie crept toward her and pounced. With all their strength, they forced Twilight onto her back.

Twilight let out a monstrous hiss in anger as she bore the weight of her friends.

As she was distracted, Rainbow zipped passed Twilight unnoticed and sped toward the heart, the pike firmly clutched in her teeth. She flew as fast as she could, aiming into the center of the heart. Like a speeding bullet, she struck the heart dead on. However, as soon as the pike made contact, something went wrong. Rather than pierce the heart, the pike only halted at the surface. As soon as the it made contact, a surge of magical energy channeled through it. The solid steal pike splintered like wood as a blast of energy hurled Rainbow across the room. She crashed into a stonewall, cracking it upon impact. With a groan of pain, she slid down, hitting the floor and lying there unmoving.

"You fools." Twilight telekinetically pried Applejack and Pinkie off of her. With her magic, she conjured a barbed rope that bound the two together.

"It hurts," sobbed Pinkie as the barbs of the ropes pierced into her skin. She and Applejack tried to break free, but the more they struggled, the more the barbs buried themselves into their bodies.

"Rarity, do something," pleaded Applejack, writhing in pain.

Rarity's horn glowed as she tried to remove the ropes, but a blast from Twilight's horn struck her in the head like lightening. Rarity reared back from the force of the blast, a sickening crack echoing off the walls. As she maintained her balance, she saw half of her own horn dangle in front of her face. "My horn!"

At that moment, a pillar crumbled, leaving only two standing.

_Author's Note: Originally, I wanted Twilight to go into details over how Mantarok was imprisoned in the first place, however, I didn't wanted the characters to sit around throughout the chapter spouting exposition to the reader, especially since it probably didn't amount to much anyway. Still, for those who are wondering, my original idea was that Mantarok was weakened after he banished the other three gods, so he went into his tomb to recover. But then a spirit came in and put a binding spell on him using Mantarok's own magic. Then centuries later, Tarik, Abdullah, and Mert encountered the Essences, got cursed, and the spirit stepped in and bound them too. However, in the process, the spirit either died or lost his mind._


	10. The Enigma of Fate

Equestrian Darkness: Friendship's Requiem

Chapter 10: The Enigma of Fate

Fluttershy tried her best to ignore Applejack's and Pinkie's screams of pain, but the sight of them writhing on the ground sent shivers down her spine. Her body went numb as Twilight blasted Rarity's horn off. She stood in the corner of the chamber, watching her friends suffer. _We're doomed. I can't help any pony._ As her mind drifted on to what might be her last thoughts alive, she remembered when she first met Dr. Lionheart, a time that felt like days even though it had only been hours. She remembered asking her who could destroy Mantarok. The doctor responded by pointing to the purple rune: Mantarok was his own strength and weakness. As Fluttershy remembered this detail, her eyes drifted upon Twilight's staff, lying abandoned on the ground. She felt another shiver run down her spine as she remembered how the staff obliterated Mert into pieces...with Mantarok's power.

It hit her like a lightening bolt. All of a sudden, the reason why the pike did not hurt the heart became clear, and when her eyes drifted down to Twilight's staff again, she knew what she had to do. Pony-kind's last hope of survival was in her hooves.

She dashed toward the staff, flying by blind adrenaline. She grabbed Twilight's staff with her teeth, scrapping her hooves against the floor as she made a hard turn. She rocketed toward the heart, the staff clutched firmly in her teeth, her mind and focus on nothing else but the target. She was just about to hit the heart when...

"Ahhhh!" Fluttershy screamed in agony. She had been hit with a magical attack spell. Her strength waning, she struck the floor with a hard thud, her body covered in lacerations from the spell. Despite the hard landing, the staff did not leave the grip of her teeth. She could feel warm blood oozing off her. Through blurred vision, she watched in horror as another pillar came down, leaving one standing.

She could hear Twilight casting another incantation, but she was so weak, she could do nothing except wait for the inevitable. She screamed through the staff again as she felt another magical attack spell hit her. Her skin seemed to burn as her own friend brutally tortured her. She collapsed to the ground, but she would not relinquish the staff.

She waited for the final blast that would finish her off, but instead felt Twilight's telekinetic hold lift her off the ground. She was being carried away.

The final pillar received another blast from the spell. Its foundation was crumbling and weak. All it would take is one last casting and Mantarok would be free. However, by fortuitous timing, Rainbow regained consciousness and saw Twilight holding Fluttershy.

_Nethlek...Pargon..._

Twilight was so focused on Fluttershy, she did not notice Rainbow. Before she could react, she was tackled by the pegasus, knocking her to the ground.

_Redgormor...Pargon..._

Fluttershy could feel the hold of Twilight's magic lessen. It was small, but it was just enough for one determined pegasus.

_Pargon...Mantarok..._

With all the strength Fluttershy could manage, she thrust the staff forward.

_Par—_

The spell was interrupted in a flurry of sparks once the staff pierced cleanly through the heart. Fluttershy held onto the staff even as evil magic coursed through her body, causing her injuries to burn and bleed freely.

The heart exploded in a halo of purple light, violently tossing Fluttershy aside.

Without the Essence, Mantarok could no longer remain on the Material Plane. Its many mouths seemed to shout in rage and pain. Its whole body convulsed and shivered as it lost its material form. In an instant, white light filled the chamber. Before they were enveloped by the light, they caught a glimpse of Mantarok seemingly imploding on itself in its death throes. Once the light had vanished, the ponies opened their eyes, and saw that the Corpse God was gone, leaving a large crater where it once lay.

With a moan of pain, Pinkie and Applejack got onto their hooves. The rope had disappeared, but the cuts still remained in rows of bleeding puncture wounds.

Nearby, they could see Rainbow standing over Twilight's supine and unconscious body. Curious, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity cautiously approached Twilight as if she was a recently killed beast who could come to life at any moment. As they got in for a closer look, they caught a glance of Twilight's Cutie Mark and saw the familiar star-shaped symbol.

Twilight wearily opened her eyes and looked up at the relieved expressions of her friends. "What...happened...?"

"I think Mantarok is gone," said Applejack, her voice choked with emotion. "It's good to have ya back, Twi."

In her daze, Twilight was slow to letting the news sink in. She climbed to her hooves, her balance unsteady like a newborn foal taking her first steps. "Uhh, Mantarok's gone? How did it happen?"

"Well, we tried to distract ya when Fluttershy—" Applejack gasped. "Land sakes, what happened to Fluttershy?"

"She's..." Pinkie was on the verge of tears.

Near the pedestals where the heart once lay, there was a young pony seemingly asleep in a pool of blood.

With a heavy heart, the group slowly approached their fallen friend. Upon closer inspection, they could see no clear signs of life from Fluttershy.

Pinkie's hair was straight and hung loosely off her head. The normally overdramatic Rarity was subdued and restrained, tears gently sliding down her face.

"Wait," shouted Twilight, "where's the Tome?"

Before her friends could ask what she meant, Pinkie appeared with the Tome of Eternal Darkness clutched in her teeth.

Twilight telekinetically grabbed the Tome and suspended it aloft as she turned through the pages. She found the spell she was looking for, and could already feel herself wince in pain. She did not have enough energy to sustain a large spell, but she had to do her best. Her horn glowed as three red colored runes appeared around her.

_Narokath...Aretak...Chattur'gha._

In response to the spell, the injuries on Fluttershy faded a little. By the time the spell did its job, Fluttershy was left still covered in lacerations, but they looked shallow enough to be survivable. That is the way it seemed to them, but despite the spell, she still lay unmoving.

Twilight dropped the Tome as the last of her energy was spent. She fought to stay awake, needing to know if Fluttershy would live.

The five friends anxiously waited for any signs of life. The silence was deafening and oppressive as they anxiously waited but strangely comforting. It meant they were alone, without anything watching them.

Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Fluttershy opened her eyes. She slowly lifted her face out of the pool of her own blood and looked up at the relieved smiles of her friends. Her right eye was black and swollen, barely able to open. She glanced up at Twilight and smiled. "Twilight, you're...back to normal."

Twilight could not stop herself from crying (neither could anyone else for that matter) as she said, "Thanks to you."

As the group celebrated and cheered, Dr. Lionheart hovered nearby, happily getting one last look at them. Her eyes stayed on them as she slowly faded away. With her soul at peace, she quietly slipped into the spirit world.

#

When Celestia opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the ceiling of her bedroom. The second thing she saw was her sister looking down upon her with a worried glance and her horn cut clean off. The third thing she saw was the Tome of Eternal Darkness lying open on the bed.

"Luna, what's going on?"

"Thou have been in a coma."

"Ugh, all I can remember since the fight with that green pegasus were these terrible nightmares. What time is it?"

"It is 2:30 AM."

"AM?" Celestia glanced at the sunlight glaring outside her window. "Oh no." She leaped out of bed, galloped to her balcony, and used her magic to lower the sun. Once the night came, she returned to Luna who stood by the bed with the Tome sitting next to her. "So, what happened? And what's that book?"

"It is the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Even without my horn, I was able to revive you with that book."

Celestia telekinetically lifted the book to her eyes and flipped through the pages. "If you can cast spells with this book, then how did you read the text?"

"I-I am afraid I," Luna hesitated, afraid to confess the truth, "have betrayed your trust."

Luna explained about how she came across the Tome of Eternal Darkness and how it led her to become Nightmare Moon. She then told her Twilight's recount of what had happened in the underground city. By the time her story was over, Luna was so emotionally distraught, she dropped all formality in her speech and spoke like an upset child. "I'm so sorry, sis. If I'd warned you about the Ancients, none of this would have happened."

Celestia hugged her with one hoof, her grip firm and affectionate. "Luna, you don't have to be afraid. What happened in the past no longer matters to me. I forgive you for what you did with the Ancients' magic and I forgive you for what happened yesterday."

Luna was unabashedly sobbing in front of her sister. "Thank you."

"What about Twilight and her friends?"

Luna wiped a tear from her eye. "They're recovering from their injuries in the Canterlot hospital."

"Then I wish to give them my thanks. Do you want to accompany me?"

"Of course."

The two princesses teleported, materializing outside of the Canterlot Hospital. Although visiting hours were long since over, the princesses were easily able to convince the staff to let them in.

Although her composure was firm, Celestia felt her heart ache as she gazed upon Twilight and her friends. They were all placed in a single room and were lying in beds sound asleep. She walked passed each of them, feeling the deepest gratitude and remorse of the suffering they all had to endure.

Rarity had few injuries, but her horn had to be trimmed and smoothed out so it would grow back properly.

Pinkie and Applejack both had blood soaked bandages wrapped around their midsection where Twilight's rope bound them. They also had bandages tied elsewhere around their bodies, hiding all bite marks and claw marks.

Rainbow was sleeping on her belly, her wings out stretched. She too had cuts and bruising, most noticeably on her back, as well as a large bandage wrapped around her forehead.

Out of all of them, Fluttershy was the worst off. Although Twilight's spell saved her life, she still had a number of injuries as indicated by the cast on her right front leg and the bandages around her head and right eye.

Finally, Celestia came to Twilight who lay on her bed, staring up at the moon, the only one awake. Her back was toward the princesses, seemingly unaware of their presence.

"Twilight," said Celestia.

Her student rolled over onto her back to see her mentor. When she spoke, her voice was low and somber. "Yes, Princess."

"How are you feeling?"

"To be honest...I'm ashamed. The others told me what I did when I was cursed...including what I did to Fluttershy...and to Applejack and Pinkie...and Rarity." Twilight put a hoof over her face in a futile attempt to hide her tears. "I nearly killed my own friends. I will never forgive myself."

"But does they forgive you?" asked Luna, once again dropping royal speech due to the emotions welling up in her heart.

"The others said they knew that I wasn't in control of myself, but that doesn't change the fact that I killed three ponies and nearly murdered one of my best friends."

"I know how it feels when you have no control over yourself. I've done terrible things when I was Nightmare Moon," she gave a passing glance to her sister, "but if those who love you can forgive you, then you have nothing to worry about." She smiled as if passing on that bit of wisdom finally sunk in for her, warming her heart. "Your actions tonight only saved your friends and all of Equestria."

Twilight finally smiled, a meek one, but an appreciative smile. "I know, but Fluttershy is the real hero."

"And when you all recover, you'll be heralded as heroes." Celestia telekinetically tucked Twilight into bed like a loving mother. With her horn hovering over Twilight's head, she used a sleeping spell on Twilight. As the unicorn drifted off into the void of dreams, Celestia said, "Sleep, my faithful student. I promise there will be no more nightmares haunting your dreams tonight."

#

By the time the two princesses returned to their bedroom, Luna soon realized something was amiss. "Sis, hath thou seen where the Tome be?" She was standing over her bed, right where she had left the Tome of Eternal Darkness.

"I haven't seen it since we left. Are you sure that the book was there?"

"Positive. I left it here. Where could it be?"

The two regal sisters searched the bedroom, asked every cleaning maid in the castle if they had taken it, but the Tome was nowhere to be found.

What they did not realize was that the Essences were not the only way the Ancients could work their will into the corporeal world. The Tome of Eternal Darkness, although a construct of Mantarok, contained the power of all four Ancients. Like four parts fusing into one whole, the Tome had its own alien sentience. The Tome returned to the underground city, back to the platforms where the Essences originally were. The Tome lay on the ground wide open on its own accord as magical energy flowed from its pages. The magic runes of four separate summoning spells were cast and one by one, the Essences were restored: the beating heart of Mantarok, the crustacean claw of Chattur'gha, the extraterrestrial coelenterate of Ulyaoth, and the angelic statuette of Xel'lotath. The Essences sat on the pedestals where they were millennia ago, their energies coursing invisibly outward, drawn by death and suffering.

Although the Eternal Darkness had been delayed, to an Ancient, time meant nothing, and thus, the Essences sat in the tomb, waiting for someone to find them...

**The End**

_Author's Note: Thank you for reading my story, and since you got to the end, I'll let you in on a little secret. In the game, all spells use at least three runes: the first indicates magical effect, the second indicates the target, and the third determines alignment. Since the first two determine what spell is cast, I decided to have a little fun by creating my own spells with combinations not seen in the game. Narokath and Aretak is a healing spell for others. Antorbok and Aretak is an attack spell that focuses on one target. Tier and Magormor is the summon item spell._


End file.
